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How to grow flowering cherries and best varieties
Flowering cherries are a photogenic star of spring, but which of these ornamental trees should you grow? Discover our Best Buy varieties
Ceri studied horticulture at the University of Reading and RHS Wisley. She edits Which? Gardening magazine and our online gardening content.
Thanks to the Japanese passion for flowering cherry trees and the breeding that's been carried out there, we now have a huge choice of these spring-flowering favourites, which are often scented and great for attracting early pollinators.
Which? Gardening has found the ones that managed to stand out from a very beautiful crowd. The varieties tested are on the smaller side and are widely available to buy online.
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Key facts
- Plant type - Hardy deciduous tree
- Position - Open, sunny and sheltered from the wind
- Soil - Any but not waterlogged
How to grow flowering cherries: month by month
| January | February | March | April | May | June |
| FLOWERING | |||||
| July | August | September | October | November | December |
| PRUNE |
Planting
Choose an open, sunny site, ideally sheltered from strong winds. Any type of soil is fine if it’s not too wet in winter.
Plant bare-root trees November to March and container-grown plants at any time.
Dig a hole wider than the root ball and plant roots at the same height as in the pot. Don’t cover the graft union, which forms an obvious bump on the trunk near the soil line (except on ‘standards’, which are grafted onto the top of the stem).
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Best flowering cherry varieties
Full testing results for flowering cherries
Which? members can log in now to see the full results and which are our Best Buy varieties. If you’re not a member, join Which? to get instant access.
| Variety name | Overall rating | Height x spread (m) | Flowering duration | Impact of flowers | Overall display | Coverage of flowers | Tree shape | Scent | Pollinators | Foliage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 'Beni-yutaka' | Sign up to reveal Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations. Unlock tableFirst month £5, then £11.99 per month, cancel at any time Already a member? Log in | |||||||||
| 'Chocolate ice' | ||||||||||
| 'Daikoku | ||||||||||
| 'Fugenzo' | ||||||||||
| 'Gyoiko' | ||||||||||
| 'Hakusan-hata-zakura' | ||||||||||
| 'Hanagasa' | ||||||||||
| 'Hokusai' | ||||||||||
| incisa | ||||||||||
| 'Matsumae-hana-guruma' | ||||||||||
| 'Mikuruma-Gaeshi' | ||||||||||
| 'Pink Perfection' | ||||||||||
| 'Royal Burgundy' | ||||||||||
| 'Shirotae' | ||||||||||
| 'Tai-haku' | ||||||||||
| The Bride' | ||||||||||
| 'Ukon' | ||||||||||
| 'Umineko' | ||||||||||
Sign up to reveal
Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations.
Unlock tableFirst month £5, then £11.99 per month, cancel at any time
Already a member? Log in
OVERALL RATING The more stars the better. Ignores price and is based on: impact 20%; coverage 15%; display 15%; duration of flowering 10%; foliage 10%; plant shape 10%; pollinators 10%; scent 10%.
How we test flowering cherries
We visited one of the Plant Heritage national collections of flowering cherries, held at Batsford Arboretum, where we were able to watch them burst into bloom and could assess their relative merits.
For our assessments we selected smaller cultivars which were available to buy online from the collection at Batsford Arboretum.
We visited the arboretum several times during the flowering season. Each time we assessed the trees on our list for different aspects of their appearance, scent and whether insects were visiting the flowers.
Caring for flowering cherries
Watering
Roots are shallow, so will benefit from a spring mulch with organic matter and watering in long dry spells.
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How to prune flowering cherries
Any suckering stems that grow from the rootstock, below the graft union, should be cut off as soon as you see them.
Avoid pruning if possible, but do it in summer if you need to reduce the size or remove any branches.
Making pruning easier with the best secateurs
Common growing problems for flowering cherries
Bacterial canker causes dark, sunken areas on branches and yellowing of leaves. Affected areas should be cut out.
Silver leaf is a fungal disease that turns foliage a silver colour and kills branches. Summer pruning helps to avoid infection.
In a wet spring, blossom rot – a fungal disease – can kill flowers and cause die-back in shoot tips. Collect and dispose of fallen leaves and remove as much affected material from the tree as possible.
