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Expertly Grown in the UK
Carefully Hand Delivered

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'Van' Cherry Tree

Picture-perfect cherries

Grown by John

South Downs National Park

Choose your size

2 options

Choose your size

'Van' Cherry Tree Fruit Trees
'Van' Cherry Tree Fruit Trees

£30

£32

In stock

Perfectly happy plants, or your money back

Specialist overnight plant delivery

The highlights

  • Sweet, tangy and moreish
  • A great choice for colder areas
  • Bake a cherry clafoutis
  • Harvest from early August (freezes well)

Description

  • A very popular dessert cherry with a firm flesh and sweet flavour
  • If you looked up the colour 'cherry red', you'd find a picture of 'Van'!
  • Resistant to cracking
  • Easy to grow for bumper crops
  • Not just delicious to eat fresh, 'Van' is also great for cooking, jams and liqueurs
  • Mid season - harvest in July and early August
  • Our trees are professionally pruned before dispatching. This formative pruning can involve cutting the main leader, if the expert tree growers decide this will produce a better shaped tree. This can stop the tree becoming "leggy", and promote stronger, bushier growth.MORE

What To Expect

Supplied as:

Bare Root Tree
9L Eco Pot
This tree is supplied in a 9L Poly-Pot, which is approx D15 x H30cm. Poly-Pots use 70% less plastic then traditional pots and can be recycled easily. A 9L pot allows ample space for good root development and can support a good size tree.

Height on arrival:

120-150cm inc. roots
120-150cm inc. pot

Eventual height:

4m
4m

Eventual spread:

4m
4m

Tasting notes:

Sweet and firm to the bite
Exceptionally sweet fresh or cooked
Sweet and firm to the bite
Exceptionally sweet fresh or cooked

Time to first crop:

2 years
You may see your first cherries 2 years after planting, but you should not expect substantial crops until the 4/5th year.

Hardiness:

Fully hardy
This tree is fully hardy, meaning it will survive under any condition including the occasional snowy winters in the UK. The one thing to watch out for is blossoms being affected by frost. If there is frost forecast when your tree is in blossom, you should protect it overnight with horticultural fleece.
Fully hardy
This tree is fully hardy, meaning it will survive under any condition including the occasional snowy winters in the UK. The one thing to watch out for is blossoms being affected by frost. If there is frost forecast when your tree is in blossom, you should protect it overnight with horticultural fleece.

Self fertile:

Not self fertile
Not self fertile

Pollination group:

Pollination Group 3
Requires pollination by another cherry tree within a mile's radius. They need to flower at the same time. Cherries in the same pollination group, or one either side, can pollinate each other. In built up areas it is unlikely that there won't be a suitable pollination partner within a mile
Pollination Group 3
Requires pollination by another cherry tree within a mile's radius. They need to flower at the same time. Cherries in the same pollination group, or one either side, can pollinate each other. In built up areas it is unlikely that there won't be a suitable pollination partner within a mile

Uses:

Eating, cooking, jams, liqueurs
Eating, cooking, jams, liqueurs

Rootstock:

Colt rootstock (grows up to 4m)
Colt rootstock (grows up to 4m)
Cherry tree varieties are usually grown by grafting them to rootstocks. This has benefits for pest resistance, genetics and the efficiency of propagation. Importantly, it also limits the height of a tree to a more manageable, specific height. Colt cherry trees tend to only reach 4m tall, perfect for smaller spaces or those afraid of stepladders. They can also be trained to a smaller size by pruning or restricting the roots, by keeping in a smaller pot.

Spacing:

4m

How To Grow

Good pest and disease resistance

Shows good resistance to the main pest and diseases for cherries including cracking. You may see some damage from aphids and caterpillars, which can both be washed away with soapy water. Birds will eat the cherries if given the chance so take steps to prevent this like using a fruit net or bird scarers. Reduce the risk of bacterial canker by pruning to improve airflow and removed rotting organic matter nearby.MORE

Full sun

Plant where the tree will receive around 6-8 hours of sunlight daily in spring/summer.

Any soil except sandy

Prefers fertile well draining soil. Can also tolerate clay soil but you will need to take some steps to improve drainage in the winter. They like deep soil and they don't tolerate either sandy or badly draining soil.

Some structural pruning required

Some pruning should be done each winter to ensure that your cherry tree maintains a productive shape. This can improve yields and prevent disease.

Planting Calendar

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  • Best time to plant
  • Harvest
  • Flower

South Downs National Park

Meet John

110 years' expertise free with every tree

John’s family have been growing trees in the South Downs National Park for over a century, and it shows. Dug up and sent straight to your garden at between 18-36 months old, their quality rootstocks, expert pruning and natural pest control mean that these traditionally field-grown trees are the hardiest you can get.

What customers say about us

We do our best to provide you the best experience ever

Growing with Roots

Good to know

Our plants are grown 
in the UK

Specialist UK growers we know and trust grow your plants the traditional way, with organic fertiliser and biological pest control. They pick only the healthiest plants for you, professionally pruning them so that they’ll grow strong and well shaped.

Our plants are delivered overnight

Your plants are sent to you fresh from the field in our plastic free box that’s specially designed to hold them tight, then securely delivered by specialist plant couriers - straight from the grower to your garden within 
24 hours.

We're here to help at every step

We want your plants to have a long and healthy life. Expect easy-to-follow grow guides and videos devised by our team 
of experts.

Perfect plants, guaranteed

We’re confident that you’ll be delighted 
with your new plants. Need help? Alice and her team are here to guarantee you’re 
perfectly happy.

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The delivery timescale for each plant is on the web page (near the 'add to basket's button). You'll receive a dispatch email with an exact delivery date once your plants are on their way, so you can get the garden ready.

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Where do you deliver?

We deliver to anywhere in Mainland UK for our standard delivery cost. We are able to deliver most plants to Highlands and non UK mainland however this will be at an additional cost. This will be calculated at the checkout. Please note, deliveries to these locations will take longer. Unfortunately, we are not able to deliver to Northern Ireland at present.

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