Caring for A Weeping Cherry tree

I love my Weeping Cherry tree, I truly do. It is just beautiful! The only thing I dislike about it is the length of time it blooms. Usually it only lasts for around 4 days, sometimes less depending on the weather. In 2011 we had a bad wind storm the day after it bloomed and every flower blew off. I was pretty sad about that, I wait all year for this tree to bloom! 

This isn't a tree I would have purchased myself though. It was here when we bought the place and I thought it looked pretty bizarre. We didn't see the tree for the first time until May so it had already bloomed for the year. I wasn't sure what was going on with that weird little tree, but I thought it was kind of neat. 

After it bloomed that next spring I fell in love with it! It was odd looking, but those dainty little flowers were just so beautiful! It took me another year to start trying to unravel the mystery of what it was, mostly because it wasn't properly cared for therefore didn't look like anything I had seen before!

(picture from 2011)

I did some research and learned how to take care of it. I pruned it in January and fertilized it with compost in Spring. In researching the tree, I read conflicting information on pruning. Some sites said to prune after the flowers fall off in spring and others said to prune during January when the tree is dormant. 

I chose January since I was pruning the grapevines anyway at that time. It's worked out well for me so far. Basically just prune off any dead branches and shape the tree how you want it to look. I love the long hanging branches and kinda hate the short umbrella look most commercial properties prune their trees into. So that's how I prune mine!

I've learned that some weeping cherry trees do produce fruit, but mine isn't one that does. Since it was here before we were, I'm not quite sure if it's a dwarf or only a few years old. Time will tell on that one I suppose. I hope it's only a few years old though. They only live around 30-40 years which isn't terribly long for a tree! I do think it's one of the grafted varieties though, from looking at the way it grows.

(picture from 2012)

The best I can do is continue to prune and care for it. It was quite easy to prune. It still sends out rouge branches here and there, but I've got it into a nice long umbrella shape now. (I hate when I see them pruned way up high at the mall. I think they look so ridiculous! What's the point of getting a tree with all those beautiful drooping branches  if you cut them all off?) 

The chickens like to spend warm summer days under it since it's cooler there. The guineas especially like it when it blooms. They hide under the branches and pick the bees off as they land in the flowers! Crafty little buggers aren't they?

I find it so very interesting that a tree that I wouldn't give a second glance to in a nursery, ends up being my favorite when I see it every day. Odd isn't it?

~L

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