How to grow Bird Cherry
Bird cherry seed carries a proper dormancy, needing both a warm spell and a long cold one before it will grow. It’s not a difficult species, just a slow one; get the sequence right and you can expect reliable germination the following spring.
At a glance
- Scientific name
- Prunus padus
- Family
- Rose (Rosaceae)
- Can seed be stored
- Yes, dries and stores
- Type of dormancy
- Moderate dormancy
- Pretreatment
- Warm ~2–4 weeks + cold ~18 weeks (roughly 5 months)
Quick links
Seasonal calendar
Year 1
Year 2
- a Collect: Ripen early in August
- b Store: Extracted ASAP, pre-treated immediately
- c Treat: Warm stratification
- d Treat: Cold begins
- e Treat: Cold continues
- f Sow: Check from Feb; ready end March
- g Grow: Grown on until November, traditionally the start of the lifting and planting season, though this window has been shifting and shortening with a changing climate.
| Stage | Year | Month range | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collect | Year 1 | August to August | Ripen early in August |
| Store | Year 1 | August to August | Extracted ASAP, pre-treated immediately |
| Treat | Year 1 | August to October | Warm stratification |
| Treat | Year 1 | November to December | Cold begins |
| Treat | Year 2 | January to February | Cold continues |
| Sow | Year 2 | February to March | Check from Feb; ready end March |
| Grow | Year 2 | March to November | Grown on until November, traditionally the start of the lifting and planting season, though this window has been shifting and shortening with a changing climate. |
Picking
The small, dark berries of the bird cherry ripen early in August. They can be picked easily from this small tree by hand.
Extraction and storage
The collected berries should be extracted as soon as possible. Store them in a cool, dry place until you can extract them. Click here to see the simplest way to extract the seed from the fleshy fruit. Ideally the extracted seed should be pre-treated immediately.
Pretreatment
Mix the seeds with equal parts horticultural sand or a sand/compost mixture. Use 50% leafmould or peat-free compost and 50% horticultural sand. For each handful of seeds add two or three handfuls of mixture. Select a pot that has enough room for this seed/sand mixture (and a bit more) and put a layer of stones in the bottom. Cover these stones with sand. Place the seed/sand mixture on top of this and cover this with 2-3cm sand. Label the pot and stand in a shady spot outdoors.
Bird cherry seed should be ready to sow in the following spring. The pot needs to be watered if they show signs of drying out. Protect from birds and mice if they discover your seeds.
Sowing
Around the end of March is the typical time for bird cherry seed to germinate, but you should check them regularly from February onwards for signs of germination. As soon as about 5% of them have begun to germinate, sow them three to a pot or in seedbeds, about 2cm apart. Cover them with 5mm of horticultural sand or grit and firm.
Growing
Bird cherry grows in moist soil, so it is important to provide plenty of water for the seeds and young plants. During the later part of the spring and into summer you can reduce the amount of water to the plants (unless nature has other ideas!).
Provided they receive enough moisture and are fed regularly (you can use a liquid or granular feed every 4-6 weeks until the middle of July), bird cherry will grow quite fast. You might manage to produce a 50cm tall plant in one season.
Planting your new tree(s)
When your Bird Cherry is tall enough, it can be planted into its new home. Prepare the site well by clearing away any weeds or grass and make a hole big enough to accommodate the root ball. Plant carefully in the hole, to the same depth as it was in the pot or ground, and firm back the soil. More tree planting details here.
