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Prunus avium 'Summer Sun' (D)
  • RHS AGM
  • RHS Plants for pollinators

cherry (sweet) 'Summer Sun'

A moderately vigorous sweet cherry with an attractive upright, spreading habit. Produces very good crops of firm, well-flavoured red to black fruit, cropping in late July. Not self fertile. Pollination group 4

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Size
Ultimate height
2.5–4 metres
Time to ultimate height
5–10 years
Ultimate spread
2.5–4 metres
Growing conditions
Chalk
Clay
Loam
Sand
Moisture
Moist but well–drained, Well–drained
pH
Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Colour & scent
StemFlowerFoliageFruit
Spring White Green
Summer Green Black Red
Autumn
Winter
Position
  • Full sun
Aspect

South–facing or West–facing

Exposure
Sheltered
Hardiness
H6
Botanical details
Family
Rosaceae
Native to the UK
No
Foliage
Deciduous
Habit
Bushy
Genus

Prunus can be deciduous or evergreen trees or shrubs with showy flowers in spring, and often good autumn foliage colour. Some have edible fruit in autumn, and a few species have ornamental bark

Name status

Accepted

How to grow

Cultivation

Grow in moderately fertile soil in full sun. Cherries are best suited to fan-training so they can be netted against bird damage and protected from frosts. Further sweet cherry cultivation advice

Propagation

Propagate by chip budding or grafting on clonal rootstock for fruit

Suggested planting locations and garden types
  • City and courtyard gardens
  • Cottage and informal garden
  • Wildlife gardens
  • Wall side borders
  • Edible fruit
Pruning

Train fan-trained trees in spring. Prune established fans and carry out routine pruning on established cherry trees when harvesting the fruits in summer

Pests

Protect trees from birds that damage buds and eat the fruit. May suffer from aphids, caterpillars, leaf-mining moths and winter moth caterpillars

Diseases

May be susceptible to peach leaf curl, silver leaf, bacterial canker, blossom wilt and honey fungus

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