How wide does Prunus serotina (Black Cherry) get?

16 years ago

I'm starting to give in. I realize that there are just too many butterflies which would use a Prunus serotina in my yard. I enjoy eating the fruit, as well.

I have some questions:

1. How wide will it get in say 30-50 years.

2. If I cut it down, can I grow another one from the root-stock, as one could with a Choke Cherry (P. virginiana)?

3. Do you think that my Koi will eat the seeds and die, as I've sometimes read?

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Comments (5)

njbiology
Original Author
16 years ago
I just read that they get pretty wide and that they can re-sprout from the stump.

I guess I can grow two and stagger the time when I cut them down. While one is cut down, I will allow the other to grow until the other one catches up.

This would be ok because at least it's the same tree - so it's not really killing it and replacing it, but rather using a natural mechanism in response to 'severe pruning' - it's comparably more natural then cutting down a non-hardwood tree and replacing it completely.
MissSherry
16 years ago
I've never heard of people eating wild black cherries - in Louisiana, they use them to make cherry bounce, a real hard liquour! Birds love the fruit, will actually scout out green fruits as they ripen.
I've got one that's close to my house that I prune all the time in getting small branches for my tigers and RSPs to eat. It's only made it to about 6' wide and about 13'-15' tall - if you prune yours regularly, then it'll probably never even get that big in the first place. Left alone, wild black cherry will get about ?60'-80' tall and about ?20' wide. WBC grows real fast, so if you don't keep it pruned, it will grow big quickly. It's also supposed to be a favorite for cecropia moths! They do indeed resprout from the stump, but if you keep it pruned, you probably won't ever have to cut it down in the first place.
MissSherry
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bbcathy
16 years ago
They certainly do sprout from the trunk. I have cut them down a dozen times and they always come back. I have millions of them here and my neighbor did see a Cecropia moth the other day! My orioles nest in them and eat them as fast as they come out and I could never get any fruit even if I wanted to. They can be disease and insect prone though. Good Luck
Cathy
njbiology
Original Author
16 years ago
MsSherry,

That's interesting. Well, how many years have you had your WBC for? I'd like to keep it 8' wide and 15' tall forever - how do you prune it, in keeping it from growing higher then 15' in the canopy. This would be great if I could maintain it to that size. Btw, I just walked around the block and picked a whole bunch of Wild Black Cherries - they are great to eat, which is another reason I'd like to plant it; just do not eat the toxic seeds.

So, let me know about pruning it and how long you've kept the pruning up for.

Thanks,
Steve
MissSherry
16 years ago
I live in a very natural, wooded setting, Steve, and the one I'm talking about is a young cherry that came up by the garage, I can't remember exactly when, because it's just one of many. I started cutting off small branches to feed cats, and noticed that pruning it just made it make more new growth, but since I keep repeatedly pruning the new growth off, it never gets any taller or wider. Maybe the trunk will get bigger? There's another one I used that's in my 'yard' inside the fence, but not as much because it got tent caterpillars who pruned it so much there wasn't that much left for me to cut. As long as you have WBC, you'll have some type of lepidoptera and seedling trees coming up all over - the seeds must have a high viability rate, because seedlings are everywhere in the spring. WBC is one of the pioneer type trees, meaning that it comes up on its own on cleared or cutover land.
MissSherry

How wide does Prunus serotina (Black Cherry) get?

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njbiology
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How wide does Prunus serotina (Black Cherry) get?

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MissSherry

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MissSherry

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njbiology
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