Bird cherry ∗ Planting and care tips and use

the essentials in brief

• the bird cherry is a 5 to 15 m tall, partially poisonous, deciduous shrub with arching branches, profuse spring flowering, edible mini fruits and beautiful foliage colors in autumn.
• Bird cherry wood is light yellow in the sapwood, reddish to dark brown in the core, soft, flexible and smells unpleasantly of bitter almonds.
• Plant a Prunus padus in a sunny to partially shaded location in fresh, moist, nutrient-rich, lime-poor soil.
• Care tips: water thoroughly when dry, fertilize with compost in March and June, pruning and thinning out in February, combating peak drought with cutting techniques, web moth sit out
• Beautiful varieties of Prunus padus: pyramidal black cherry 'Le Thoureil', black cherry 'Obelisk', Butterfly cherry 'Watereri' and late flowering or American bird cherry (Prunus serotina).

Characteristics

• Scientific name: Prunus padus
• Family: Rosaceae
• Growth type: deciduous shrub, small tree
• Growth height: 600 – 1500 cm
• Leaves: dark green, yellow-red autumn colour
• Flowering time: April to June
• Flower: white grapes
• Fruit: drupes
• Toxicity: partially toxic
• Hardiness: hardy
• Diseases and pests: lace drought, spider moth
• Use: natural garden, ornamental tree, hedge

fruit

During the lavish spring blooms, bees, hoverflies and butterflies take care of pollination. There's a lot to do for the busy insects, because a bird cherry shines with innumerable, 10 to 20 cm long, overhanging, 12 to 30-flowered racemes. As a reward, pollinators are lured by a sip of nectar in the center of each flower. Each pollinated flower turns into an edible drupe by late summer. These properties characterize the fruit of a bird cherry:

• Colour: light red, black when fully ripe
• Size: pea size
• Shape: spherical
• Weight: 1.3 to 2.1 g
• Flesh: tart-bitter, edible, non-toxic
• Steinkern: pointed, net-like-pitted, poisonous

Edible drupes up close

Sheet

Shortly before the beginning of the flowering period, the native bird cherry puts on its foliage. As the year progresses, the foliage undergoes a color transformation until they fall off in winter. A leaf can be recognized by these characteristics:

• Colour: dull dark green on top, grey-green underneath, yellow-red autumn colour
• Size: 6 to 15 cm long
• Shape: obovate to elliptically pointed, stalked, finely serrated leaf margin
• Special properties: important food plant for endangered species of butterflies such as peppered hairstreaks and brimstone butterflies
• Horticultural value: fast decomposition, good humus formation, ideal addition for the compost

The American bird cherry (Prunus serotina), which migrated to Central Europe, has 4 to 12 cm long, oblong-ovate to oblong-lanceolate leaves with a dark green, glossy upper side and light green ones Bottom. Furthermore, the leaf edge is serrated more prominently than on the leaf of a Prunus padus.

toxicity

With regard to its poison content, the bird cherry is extremely fickle. Some parts of the plant are permeated with toxins that are supposed to keep predators at bay. Other ranges are non-toxic to edible. The following table lists the details:

• Poisonous: bark, wood, roots, leaves, seeds, stone core,
• non-toxic: flowers, pulp
• Edible: stone fruit without stone (juiced, made into mush, jam, distillate)

Poisonous parts of the plant primarily contain hydrocyanic acid, recognizable by the telltale scent of bitter almonds. The unpleasant odor is most noticeable when you sniff the bark or rub a leaf between your fingers. According to reputable sources, the bird cherry has no healing effect (see botanikus.de). Traditional recipes report that tea made from the bark promises relief from coughs, rheumatism, eye problems, asthma, gout and high blood pressure. It is not known whether consumers have to pay for the consumption of bird cherry tea with nausea, vomiting and cramps.

use

The bird cherry has all the valuable properties that hobby gardeners want from a tree for the natural garden. The opulent blossom festival with picturesque overhanging grapes, followed by furious autumn colours, is a source of inspiration for creative uses. Bee-friendly cup blossoms, edible drupes and rapid growth to lofty heights round off the ornamental and utility value. The following table provides an insight:

In spring a sea of ​​flower clusters attracts bees, bumblebees, hoverflies and butterflies at the nectar-rich buffet. For birds, the table is set with nutritious berries in late summer. Now hobby gardeners have to hurry to get hold of some of the drupes as an ingredient for tart-fruity jam, bitter-sweet syrup or wild fruit vinegar made in the house style. As a romantic solitary shrub or house tree for the front yard, the bird cherry is an ornament. A Prunus padus hedge protects privacy as a blooming bulwark against prying eyes.

Bird cherry wood

Under its inconspicuous, gray bark, the bird cherry hides a noble wood with valuable properties. Warm colors, a soft, elastic consistency, low weight and the best processing quality characterize the wood of a bird cherry. The following table lists the details:

• Sapwood: whitish to yellowish, often tinged with reddish brown
• Heartwood: pale reddish-yellow to light reddish-brown, darkens over time
• Characteristics: soft, elastic, porous, fissile, easily combustible

Skilled do-it-yourselfers and experienced carpenters know how to use these advantages for the production of musical instruments, walking sticks, individual pieces of furniture and veneers. An obtrusive smell and the poison content are to be criticized. Rubber veins may occur due to reduced weather resistance. Logs grown in Central Europe are of secondary importance for the timber industry. In the USA, the wood of the bird cherry is one of the most sought-after valuable woods for the production of furniture.

digression

Growth rocket with invasive tendency

Plant bird cherry correctly - instructions

The best time to plant a bird cherry as an inexpensive root crop is in autumn. You can plant a young shrub in a container all year round, provided the soil is not frozen or parched. With a conscientious choice of location and expert planting technique, you set the course for rapid rooting. How to plant a bird cherry correctly:

Select location

The bird cherry inhabits the alluvial forests from Europe to Asia. On the other hand, the wild fruit tree is a rare guest in sunny, dry Mediterranean regions and on the calcareous Balkan islands. This distribution gives important information about the location qualities that Prunus padus wants in the hobby garden:

• Sunny to semi-shady location
• Fresh, moist, nutrient-rich soil, well-drained
• Preferably neutral to slightly acidic pH around 6
• Exclusion criteria: waterlogged, boggy, calcareous and extremely dry locations

Prepare location

Good soil preparation is recommended for healthy growth of a freshly planted bird cherry. Rake the intended planting site several times. Remove on this occasion weed and old roots. Now distribute 3 to 5 liters of ripe, sieved compost soil per square meter and rake in the organic starter fertilizer superficially.

Plant bird cherry

While preparing the soil, please place the roots of a young bird cherry in a bucket of water. Soaked root strands are less susceptible to drought stress, one of the most common causes of young tree failure in the first few months. This is how you plant the wild fruit tree correctly:

1. Dig a planting pit twice the size of the root ball
2. Enrich excavation to one third with compost and horn shavings
3. Line the pit with a root barrier
4. Place the water-soaked root ball in the center of the planting hole
5. Drive a support post into the ground and connect it to the center drive
6. Fill up the pit, press down the earth and muddy it up
7. root disc mulch with leaves, bark mulch or compost

A pruning is only necessary for a bird cherry as a root product. Cut off broken roots before planting. For dense branching, shorten all side shoots by a third after planting. Please do not trim the supporting central drive. If you have planned a place for bird cherries in a hedge, the recommended planting distance is 50 centimeters or two trees per meter.

Caring for bird cherry - tips for hobby gardeners

The care of a bird cherry is characterized by a high water and nutrient requirement. Regular cutting prevents unwanted spread. Monilia spike drought will wither the woods miserably. If infested with the spider moth, there is a risk of defoliation. The uncomplicated care program in quick succession:

Pour

The bird cherry is a very thirsty tree. Regular watering during dry periods covers the high water consumption. If the soil under the shrub feels dry, there is a need for watering. Because rain rarely penetrates the dense canopy, keep watering on rainy days. In midsummer, water the large shrub thoroughly in the early morning or late evening. Preferably use collected rainwater or stagnant, lime-poor tap water.

Fertilize

Organic Fertilizer gives a bird cherry the necessary growth energy. The nutrient reserves from soil preparation and initial fertilization are quickly depleted. Replenishment delivers a generous helping compost soil in March and June with 3 to 5 liters per square meter. Rake in the ideally sieved compost superficially, because Prunus padus is a shallow rooter. Please keep watering so that the nutrients are absorbed quickly.

To cut

Pruning care is aimed at curbing growth, promoting a light-flooded crown and giving your bird cherry a handsome shape. Expert pruning stimulates growth, revitalizes flowering and prevents diseases. How to properly cut a bird cherry:

1. Best time: February in frost-free, dry weather
2. Alternative date: end of June
3. Start by thinning out all dead wood
4. Remove criss-crossing and vertical branches
5. Cut back overhanging shoots that are too long by a third or more
6. Set the scissors at a distance of 3 to 5 mm from a bud or a bud sleeping eye
7. Important: Do not leave long stubs as potential entry points for fungal spores and other pathogens

If the topiary is limited to this year's growth, cut the bush or crown immediately after flowering. With this date, you promote the abundance of flowers, because Prunus padus flowers on one-year-old wood. Bird cherry can form numerous runners and spread throughout the garden via this path. Cut off root suckers where they branch off from a main root. Dispose of clippings with seeds, fruit or root pieces in the organic waste or the household rubbish bin. Leafy, non-blooming, healthy shoots can go on the compost heap.

Combat Prunus peak drought

As part of the diverse Prunus genus, the bird cherry is not spared from typical diseases. Fungal infection is common Monilia laxa, also known as Prunus peak drought. Botanically related fellow sufferers are apple, pear, cherry, plum and morello cherry. Home remedies and fungicides are lost in the fight against the disease. There is still hope for a cure. How to combat peak drought on a bird cherry:

• symptoms: wilted flowers and leaves, whitish-brown fungal growth on dying shoot tips, gum flow
• combat: cut back affected branches 15 cm into the healthy wood
• prevention: annual thinning cut, remove fruit mummies, dispose of infected clippings in household waste

Web moth - fight or sit out?

Much to the chagrin of hobby gardeners, a voracious pest has specialized in bird cherry. The yellow-black caterpillars of the bird cherry spider moth (Yponomeuta evonymellus) are insatiable in their greed and eat the wood bare. The end of the song is a fully spun, leafless skeleton that shimmers eerily in the sunlight. Fighting is not required. The following brief insight into the life cycle of spider moths and the reaction of a bird cherry explains why this is so:

In the spring, the overwintered caterpillars hatch from their pupae and eat the young leaves. At the same time, the pests produce a dense, silvery-white web to protect them from parasites and moisture. The insatiable larvae live under this protective tissue, eat and pupate. In the middle/end of June, adult moths hatch, which do not take any food, so that the defoliation comes to an end. Just two weeks later, the long-suffering bird cherry sprout again. The only drop of bitterness is the failure of this year's wild fruit harvest, because the pests are also attacking the flower clusters.

Popular Varieties

The original species, early flowering bird cherry (Prunus padus), was the inspiration for decorative varieties with different growth forms. In contrast, the late-flowering bird cherry (Prunus serotina) has so far been represented without any varieties in Central Europe.

• Pyramid Cherry 'Le Thoureil': Slender, conical shrub, 6 to 8 m tall, pure white, overhanging flower clusters from April.
• Column 'Obelisk': Column-shaped shrub, 6 to 10 m tall, flowers profusely from April to June.
• Butterfly Cherry 'Watereri': mighty bird cherry, 8 to 12 m tall, 6 to 8 m wide, flowering period from April to June.
• Late flowering bird cherry: Flowering period from May to June, edible mini cherries in late summer, height of growth 5 to 8 m.
• American bird cherry: Synonym for late flowering bird cherry (Prunus serotina).

FAQ

Can you make jam from the fruit of a bird cherry?

If you don't mind the tart, bitter taste of bird cherries, you can use the stone fruit to make jam or jelly. It is important to note that you juice the fruit beforehand because the seeds contain toxic hydrocyanic acid. With 1.7 liters of bird cherry juice, 1 kg preserving sugar (2:1), 2 packets of vanilla sugar and 1 teaspoon of citric acid, you can conjure up a tasty wild fruit jelly in no time at all.

Is the bird cherry suitable as a hedge plant?

In a mixed, free-growing wild fruit hedge, the bird cherry should not be missing. Especially in the garden with moist, nutrient-rich soil, the native Prunus padus convinces with a sea of ​​flowers in spring and nutritious berries in autumn. Planted as a hedge, the native growth rockets quickly transform into a dense network of branches in which feathered and winged garden dwellers can easily hide. Socialize the bird cherry with sloe (Prunus spinosa), blacks elder (Sambucus nigra) and cornel (Cornus mas) at the ideal planting distance of 50 centimetres.

Is there a risk of confusing bird cherries with other trees and shrubs?

The bird cherry should be confused with the alder buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula). Both wild fruit bushes have a gray bark and give off an unpleasant smell. Furthermore, the sapwood of both types of wood is colored yellowish-white and the heartwood reddish. There is also a risk of confusion with regard to the designation. The early-blooming bird cherry (Prunus padus) is popularly known as service cherry or service tree, which sounds similar to the service tree species (Sorbus torminalis). Last but not least, the native bird cherry and the American bird cherry look confusingly similar.

What is the calorific value of the wood of a bird cherry?

The calorific value of the air-dried wood of a Prunus padus is 19.1 MJ/kg. This corresponds to a calorific value of 4.0 kWh/kg. The wood of a bird cherry is on par with maple, birch, plane tree or elm. It should be noted that these values ​​refer to dried wood. As wood fresh from the forest, the bird cherry only has a calorific value of 6.8 MJ/kg and a calorific value of 1.9 kWh/kg.