Weeping Cherry Trees Big and Small

Weeping cherry trees grace gardens and landscapes in many climate zones with their delightful, springtime displays of flowers and their long and graceful, low-sweeping branches. This popular ornamental tree comes in an assortment of sizes, including full-sized trees and dwarf varieties. You can also control the ultimate size of a weeping cherry tree with careful pruning.

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Sizes and Shapes of Weeping Cherry Tree Varieties

  • The Higan weeping cherry, Prunus subhirtella ‘Pendula’, is one of the largest varieties, attaining an ultimate height of 20 to 30 feet (6 t0 9.1 meters). Branch spread in Higan cherry trees is between 15 to 25 feet (4.6 to 7.6 meters). Flowers are pink, and the recommended USDA hardiness zones for Higan cherry trees are zones 4 to 8.
  • Snow Fountain weeping cherry, Prunus subhirtella ‘Snofozam’, is a slower-growing, small variety with white flowers, reaching a mature height of 8 to 15 feet (2.4 to 4.6 meters) and a spread of 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 meters), growing best in zones 5 through 8.
  • The Double weeping cherry tree, Prunus subhirtella ‘Pendula Flora Plena’, also a dwarf variety, usually reaching a size of about 12 feet (3.6 meters) high, although some specimens grow up to 20 feet (6 meters) high.
  • The Hiromi weeping cherry, Prunus jaquemontii  ‘Hiromi’, is small enough to be considered a shrub, growing to an ultimate height of only 6 to 7 feet (1.8 to 2.1 meters) with a spread of 2 to 4 feet (.6 to 1.2 meters). This variety has pink blossoms and does best in zones 6a to 9b.
  • Japanese cherry trees, Prunus serrulata, are mostly of an upright growth habit, but some have the weeping cherry tree branch structure as well, including Kiku-Shidare-Zakura and Weeping Extraordinaire, varieties which grow to 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 meters) high and have bright pink, double blossoms.
  • The Yoshino cherry tree, Prunus x yedoensis, is a more upright cultivar with white blossoms, growing to a height of 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9.2 meters), but it has a single weeping type called Shidare Yoshino, which also grows to a similar size.

Pruning Weeping Cherry Trees to Control Size

You can control the ultimate size of weeping cherry trees by careful pruning. Winter and early spring, before the tree has leafed-out or bloomed, is the best time for pruning to control size.

Correctly pruning a tree shortly after planting builds a strong branch structure and can limit the ultimate size of the tree.

Text: Garden.eco

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