How to Spray a Cherry Tree

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Whether your taste preferences run toward sweet or sour, fruiting cherry trees (Prunus spp.) can be delightful additions to your edible landscape. Depending on the species and variety, cherries do well in home orchards from U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 7 across the U.S., with some varieties flourishing in USDA zones 8 and 9 in the Pacific Northwest.

One essential aspect of cherry care is a regular spraying program -- those tiny fruits don't tolerate much damage from diseases or pests. When you give your cherry trees proactive treatment with an early dormant spray, preventive fungicide and added TLC if problems arise, you can enjoy a bumper crop of homegrown cherries from your own trees.

Late-Winter Dormant Spray

One of the most important sprays of the cherry season needs to happen long before your cherries bloom or bear fruit. Spraying in late winter or early spring with a dormant horticultural oil treats many cherry pests that lie in wait, ready to cause problems later.

This spraying takes place while cherry trees are still dormant or before their buds break in spring, and treats the eggs and larvae of overwintering pests such as mites and aphids, as well as scale insects. To treat cherry trees with a dormant horticultural oil concentrate, follow these simple steps:

Preventive Fungicide Spray

Once the buds on your cherry trees begin to swell and open, a preventive fungicide spray helps protect healthy foliage and developing fruits from the many fungal diseases that can affect cherries. You can continue these fungicide-only sprayings until the blooms drop their petals, a time known as petal fall__. A copper-based fungicide helps control cherry diseases -- including brown rot, mildews, rust and leaf spots -- and provides season-long coverage. To treat cherry trees with a liquid copper concentrate fungicide, beginning as the buds swell, follow these simple steps:

Season-Long Pest Control

Cherries are susceptible to a number of insect pests that vary from region to region. Treat insect pests after petal fall, as needed, with products that target specific pests. Control is especially important when you live in area near commercial cherry farms and your backyard trees can have an impact on commercial crops. In some regions, home gardeners have a legal obligation to treat for specific cherry pests. Before planting home cherries, check with your local County Extension office for more information on specific pests and recommended or required controls in your area.

Cherry Tree Tips

Sweet cherry trees do not grow well in mild winter areas. These varieties do not like extreme hot or cold. They reach up to 40 feet tall and spread to 30 feet wide. Sour cherry trees grow to 20 feet tall, while dwarf types stay 6 to 8 feet tall. After the trees mature, they need only light pruning to remove weak or damaged branches. For the first few years of growth, feed young trees 1/2 pound of 10-10-10 fertilizer per year of age in the spring. Cherries usually appear from late spring through the middle of summer depending on the variety. Do not pick the fruit until it is fully ripe and sweet. Handle the fruit by the stems since the fruit bruises easily. Some garden pests such as scale insects and mites attack cherry trees. Use dormant oil spray to control these pests. Birds can also act as pests by feeding on the fruit. Spread a net over the tops of the trees to keep the birds away.