Japan’s world-famous dazzling cherry blossom festivals may attract visitors from across the world each spring, but we can easily produce wonderful displays in our own gardens.
In Japan, cherry blossom is known as ‘sakura’ and every year thousands gather at the festivals to celebrate its arrival.
Yet, with around 50 varieties available to British gardeners at home, we can grow our own ornamental cherries relatively easily. They require deep, loamy soil and full or partial sun and are suitable for gardens of all shapes and sizes.
Flowering cherries will grow in lawns or borders and larger varieties can be pruned to maintain the size most suited to the plot. The best time to prune is immediately after flowering.
“They are all beautiful and, depending on the weather, flower through from mid-March to April, but my personal favourite, Prunus Shirofugen, is one of the latest to bloom, in May, and also has wonderful autumn foliage,” says Mike Simpson, founder of Mail Order Trees in Cambridgeshire.
As a huge fan of flowering cherries, he has chosen five varieties ideally suited to UK gardens.
1. Prunus ‘Autumnalis Rosea’
This is a small tree with a spreading habit and, as its name suggests, flowers from autumn to early spring, depending on the weather. It grows to approximately 12ft high when fully mature but can be pruned to a lower height if necessary and offers a profusion of semi-double pale pink flowers.
2. Prunus ‘Candy Floss’
A slightly larger tree that will reach up to 15ft when fully mature, this one is totally hardy and produces an profusion of pink flowers in the spring. It will grow in full sun or partial shade and can be underplanted with low growing plants and bulbs.
3. Prunus ‘Snow Showers’
A compact, weeping form that is suitable for growing in a large pot on a sunny patio or directly in the garden or lawn. It reaches up to 12ft but can be pruned to maintain a lower height, and produces a mass of white flowers in early April.
4. Prunus ‘Snow Goose’
With its upright habit, this flowering cherry is ideal for any size of garden, producing beautiful large white flowers with long stamens in early April. It will reach up to 13ft with a spread of 8ft. It is also ideal for underplanting.
5. Prunus ‘Shōgetsu’
Also known as ‘Blushing Bride’, this small, weeping tree reaches up to 12ft when mature. Flowers start with a mass of deep pink buds that open to a double pure white flower and there is more colour to come in autumn when its green leaves turn to a dashing orange/red.
6. Prunus ‘Shirofugen’
This is Simpson’s personal favourite, an old cultivar that has been grown in Japan since the 16th century. It grows up to 25ft when fully mature, is very low maintenance and one of the latest cherries to flower, holding back its semi double white flowers that turn pale pink until May.
Where to see cherry blossom
If you want to venture out to see cherry blossom in all its glory this year, but don’t want to go abroad to do it, there are some landmarks which will provide you with your fix. These include:
The Stray, Harrogate: Lose yourself under a stunning canopy of cherry blossom trees in this 200-acre park.
The Alnwick Garden, Northumberland: The Cherry Orchard of this historic garden houses the largest collection of ‘Taihaku’ in the world, cherry blossom known as the ‘Great White’ for its snow like clusters of 7cm-long blooms. The orchard comprises 329 trees, all blooming together for up to two weeks around the end of April/beginning of May.
Bute Park, Cardiff: a Enjoy a riot of colour at this park, famed for its trees and gifted a number of cherries by Japan.
Newhailes House & Gardens, East Lothian, Scotland: This National Trust for Scotland property looks its best in spring thanks to the mature cherry trees fringing the country house which are in full bloom.
Kew Gardens, Richmond, Surrey: If the weather’s fine, take a picnic and enjoy it under Kew’s ‘cherry walk’.
Irish National Stud and Gardens, Co Kildare: This will make a great family day out with the Irish Racehorse Experience, charting the history of Irish racehorses, but you can take a slower pace in the impressive Japanese gardens created during the early 1900s.
Glendurgan Garden, Cornwall: Ornamental cherry trees are among the highlights of the cherry orchard, as well as different varieties of magnolia, but there are many other amazing spring plants to savour within the three valleys of Glendurgan.
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