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BlackGold Cherry tree

Owner: David

Location:  Two Rivers, WI, United States

Age:Planted in about 2012
Age of this tree:15 years
Soil:sandy with a little clay 
Climate at this location:Zone 5b - cool, within 1 mile of Lake Michigan
Pruning:summer pruned to maintain balance
Tree form:Central leader (widest at bottom)
Height:Between 6ft / 2m and 15ft / 4m
Cropping:Light crops
Growth:This tree grows fairly well here
Herbicides:Manual treatment (hoeing and weeding)
Pesticides:Chemical treatments
Local pests:birds

Owner's comments

Planted as a 3-foot whip in 2012. By the thick 3/4-inch caliper it looked to be a couple years old already. This tree grows in half-shade of a 200-year old maple, so it stays relatively small and leans towards the sun.

Season records for this tree

  • 2025

    Spring blossom: 15 May
    Harvest: 4th week July  1kg / 2lbs
    Fewer blossoms this year. Decided to remove blossoms from north side in hopes to get more vegetative growth on that side. Did not forget to spray in early July, resulting in 1.5 lb good tasty cherries!

  • 2024

    Spring blossom: 30 April
    Size: 2.0m / 6.7ft high   1.5m / 5.0ft wide
    Netted this year, and would have had a mediocre crop, but waited too long, and pesky fruit fly worms destroyed the entire crop in a couple days. Spray for them in July!

  • 2023

    Spring blossom: 15 May
    Size: 2.0m / 6.7ft high   1.5m / 5.0ft wide
    Half the fruit buds were empty! Cold damaged? Not much to harvest, allowed the birds have the couple cherries that would have been any good.

  • 2022

    Spring blossom: 19 May
    Size: 2.0m / 6.7ft high   1.5m / 5.0ft wide
    Moderate bloom.

  • 2021

    Spring blossom: 12 May
    Harvest: 3rd week July  1kg / 2lbs
    Size: 2.0m / 6.7ft high   1.5m / 5.0ft wide
    Typical moderate to heavy bloom. Good fruit, birds stole about half.

  • 2020

    Spring blossom: 21 May
    Harvest: 3rd week July  1kg / 2lbs
    Size: 2.0m / 6.7ft high   1.5m / 5.0ft wide
    Huge set of blossom. No thinning. Decent harvest. Rose chafers arrived 6/14.

  • 2019

    Spring blossom: 22 May
    Not much fruit bud, but expect good shoot growth then instead.

  • 2018

    Spring blossom: 18 May

  • 2017

    Spring blossom: 13 May
    Size: 1.5m / 5.0ft high   1.0m / 3.3ft wide
    Lots of blossom with several new shoots, all on south side of tree.

  • 2016

    Spring blossom: 17 May
    Harvest: 3rd week July  1kg / 2lbs
    Size: 2.0m / 6.7ft high   1.0m / 3.3ft wide
    Heavy bloom. Birds and dog ate half. Covered and saved half. Good quality.

  • 2015

    Spring blossom: 12 May
    Left untouched in winter. Huge branch growth, but only 3 cherries.

  • 2014

    Spring blossom: 30 May
    Harvest: 4th week July  0kg / 0lbs
    Size: 1.5m / 5.0ft high   1.0m / 3.3ft wide
    Very cold winter, very late spring, small growth, birds got the few cherries.

  • 2013

    Spring blossom: 19 May
    Harvest: 3rd week July  1kg / 2lbs
    Size: 1.5m / 5.0ft high   1.0m / 3.3ft wide
    I got about 30 cherries on this 2nd year tree. 16 survived the birds.