cherry 'Black Oliver'

The ideal position for sweet cherries is deep, fertile, well-drained, slightly acid soil in full sun. Cherries are best suited to fan-training so they can be netted against bird damage and the early blossom protected from frosts, though they can also be grown as small, open trees. See sweet cherry cultivation

Train fan-trained trees in spring. Prune established fans, and carry out routine pruning on established cherry trees, when harvesting the fruits in summer

Propagate by chip budding or grafting on clonal rootstock for fruit. Named cultivars will not come true from seed

May be susceptible to bird damage, cherry blackfly and other aphids, leaf-mining moths, pear and cherry slugworm, winter moth and other caterpillars. Spotted-wing drosophila, a fruit fly, is likely to become an increasing problem

May be susceptible to cherry leaf scorch and leaf spot, silver leaf, blossom wilt and brown rot; has some resistance to bacterial canker