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Fruit & Orchards

Wild Cherry trees pollinate planted tree??

12 years ago

I have a number of wild cherry trees around my property. Closest to my orchard is 50 yards, about. So.. 2 questions. Will the wild cherries pollinate something such as black pearl and since the wild ones are a ways away.. would that be an issue?? I really have no idea what the wild trees are.

Thanks.

Dan

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Comments (6)

fabaceae_native
12 years ago
The wild trees are probably one of the following:
Black Cherry (Prunus serotina)
Pin Cherry (Prunus pensylvanica)
Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)
naturalized cultivated cherry such as Mazzard (Prunus avium)

All of these probably have pollen that is compatible with cultivated varieties, and that is a fairly close distance, but it's unlikely that all the factors such as flowering season, time of pollen release and/or receptivity, and insect preference, would line up perfectly to make that happen.

Then again, I'm no expert, and this is just a guess. If your hoping to rely on this for infertile varieties, you'd be out of luck I think, but then again, if you're worried about this crossing somehow affecting your cultivated cherries, you can probably relax.
Dan.NY
Original Author
12 years ago
I was trying to get away with one variety of cherry tree. I am going to squeeze in two somehow though. Seems not smart to rely on this for pollination.
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armyofda12mnkeys
12 years ago
Dan, maybe you can learn how to graft and just have the two cultivars on one tree pollinating each other.
Scott F Smith
12 years ago
Dan, if its a wild prunus avium it should pollinate sweet cherries - they are the same species. I don't know about how well the others will cross. I have a wild prunus avium in my yard which was a help awhile back when I had only one cherry blooming. I also have a weeping cherry that looks like it has a lot of prunus avium in it based on leaf shape and expect it would also be a good pollinator.

Scott
Edymnion
12 years ago
You should be able to find a tree that has already been grafted with different types if you look hard enough. Ask your local nursery (not a big box store like Walmart, an actual nursery that sells nothing but plants and plant related products) about them, they should be able to hook you up right away, or put you in contact with someone that get you want you need.
pyro_dave
12 years ago
In western Oregon many years ago (60's &70's) my dad said that the wild cherry that was 200 feet away was pollinator for our wide variety of cherries along with one tame variety (name not remembered). The others apparently could not pollinate each other. Numerous Bing, Royal Ann, Tartarington(?), Lambert, Van and Chinook trees. He would not take out that huge wild tree even in middle of the pasture. We had good cherries except in very wet springs. The trees are still doing well. Not sure of critical details. The wild cherry fruit were small, but seemed OK as a little boy.
I would also recommend grafting the wild trees.

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