Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
to about 10 feet tall or less in cultivation. Very dense hedgerows designed
for mechanical harvest can be created by planting the saskatoons 12 inches
apart in rows 10 feet apart. A more typical spacing would be 3 to 5 feet apart
in rows 10 to 12 feet apart.
Cherry Training Systems
As with apples, fruit growers around the world have made tremendous ad-
vances recently in developing new cherry varieties, rootstocks, and training
systems. While the drive has primarily been due to the desire for increased
yields and profits, market and noncommercial fruit growers are also benefit-
ing. Not so long ago, cherry trees were planted on standard rootstocks and
developed into large trees. Without intensive management, the trees often
grew 25 to 40 feet tall, with little fruit within 8 to 10 feet of the ground.
With today's dwarfing rootstocks and improved training methods, we can
keep cherry trees 8 to 16 feet tall. With some trees, 80 to 100 percent of the
fruit can be harvested from the ground. Two genetic dwarf tart cherries grow
only 6 to 8 feet tall and are ideal for home orchards.
That is the good news. On the downside, we are at the beginning of a very
steep learning curve when it comes to dwarfing cherry rootstocks and high-
density training systems. What we do not know is much greater than what
we do, and growers must exercise caution when investing heavily in new
varieties, rootstocks, and training methods. Further, combinations that work
well in the Pacific Northwest may perform poorly in eastern North America
and systems that are successful in Europe and Australia do not necessarily
work well here.
Generally speaking, North American commercial cherry growers have
been slow to adopt high-density cherry training systems. Research by grow-
ers and fruit specialists at universities and government agencies in the Un-
ited States and Canada is underway and promising, but the present trend
in North America is to continue with medium-density cherry orchards and
rather simple training systems. One of the most serious problems with pre-
cocious, highly productive rootstocks is that, as the trees mature, they bear
