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Simple bare root fruit trees and ornamental trees

Merchant

Merchant sweet cherries
Merchant has received the RHS Award of Garden MeritMerchant is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators

A large black early-season cherry with a good flavour.

Merchant cherry trees for sale

  • 1-year bare-root tree on Gisela 5 rootstock£47.00
    Mature height: 2m-3.5m after 10 years
    Can be trained on as a semi-dwarf medimu-sized cherry tree, or a medium-size cherry fan.
    Available next season

Growing and Training

Merchant is a precocious variety and is likely to start fruiting on the Gisela 5 rootstock at about 3 years.

It is not self-fertile but can be pollinated by most self-fertile cherries including Stella, Summer Sun and Sunburst.


History

UK 1970s.


Merchant characteristics

  • Gardening skillAverage
  • Fruit persistenceNormal ripening
  • Self-fertile?Not self-fertile
  • Pollinating othersGood
  • Pick seasonEarly
  • Keeping1-3 days
  • Food usesEating fresh
  • Country of originUnited Kingdom
  • Period of origin1950 - 1999
  • Fruit colourBlack

You might also like these varieties

  • See also Lapins
    Lapins
    A popular red mid-season cherry which is easy to grow. Self-fertile.
  • See also Stella
    Stella
    Stella is perhaps the most popular mid-season red-cherry. Self-fertile and a good pollinator for other cherries.
  • See also Sunburst
    Sunburst
    A large red mid-season cherry with a good sweet mild flavour. Self-fertile.
  • See also Sweetheart
    Sweetheart
    One of the best-flavoured late-season cherries for the UK climate. Self-fertile.

More about cherry trees

Sweet cherries are easy to grow as long as you have a sunny sheltered spot. The main challenge is to keep the birds off - use a net or horticultural fleece to cover the tree or at least some of the branches in late spring.

If you only have space for one cherry tree make sure it is a self-fertile one. We highlight these on our website - look for Stella, Sweetheart, Sunburst, or Lapins.Self-fertile cherry trees are also good pollinators for the more traditional English cherry varieties.

Sweet cherries are often categorised by colour. Red cherries have red or skins and light red flesh, and nearly all the self-fertile cherries are in this category. So-called 'white' cherries usually have pale red or pink or white skins and pale flesh. So-called 'black' cherries usually have dark red or black skins.

Sweet cherries are also categorised by their picking season. Early season equates to mid / late June in southern England. Mid-season is late June / early July. Late-season is mid-July onwards.


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