Since there are no roots on the cuttings there is no way to replace the water lost through the leaves so yes yemove all but one leaf that will supply additional suggars for root formation & not deplete the water stored in the cutting Also do NOT remove all the bark from the bottom of the cutting just removea small portion of the bark ...say 1 tenth of the bark... need to remove the baggie several times a day to help preven fungal growth & to replace the air inside the bag...

I agree with georgez5il, may we call you George, that cherry is best propagated by grafting but....it is the time of the year for an interesting experiment. When I had a greenhouse and was doing propagation experiments I found easily propagated woody cuttings like Poplar species were best rooted, in my opinion, at mid-winter in the dark. Should I have wanted to try cherry I would have taken cuttings as George suggested now to mid-December and put them in clear rooting containers like plastic cups so I could easily check for roots and covered them with Glad Press and Seal and put them in the dark and checked for roots after several weeks or a few months.

I have a cherry, Prunus sargentii, that I grow Brunnera, kale, conifers, Japanese Maple, Aronia, Viburnum, Anaphalis, Coleus, Molina, Penstemon, Russian Sage (south side of the tree), zinnias and rudbekia under. Watered once a week (or two weeks) if no rain and top dressed with compost every other year. tj

Polygonatums sound good. I don't like hostas.. they will only invite deer and rabbits and they can damage the cherry on the way as well. I kind of assembled a list of perennials that can go under the cherry or at least under the canopy even if it is 20 feet away from the trunk: Myosotis scorpioides, lilium lancifolium, paeonia obovata, aquilegia flabellata, liriope muscari, iris ensata, lycoris radiata, polygonatum odoratum, and a fern-dryopteris crasshirzoma. Lol these are all my personal favorite plants so I might just use some of these. How do these plants sound?