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Sour or “pie” cherries and Manchurian apricots are able to live through extremely cold winters ( minus 40 degrees F.) However, they flower very early in the Spring, and so their buds or blossoms can often be damaged by Spring frosts. Because of this tendency, try to plant them in a protected spot. It also helps to apply a heavy mulch around the trees in late Fall to insulate the ground from early Spring warmth, so as to delay flowering.
Bali (photo below,) Meteor and Northstar cherries, and Manchurian apricots are small trees, reaching a mature height of only 10-15 feet in northern climates. They should be planted 10-15 feet apart. Pruning, if any, should be light, restricted to keeping dead wood removed, eliminating crossing branches or particularly weak crotches, and “opening up” the top to sunlight. Because cherries and apricots do not tend to develop strong, wide-angled branches, they can be vulnerable to broken limbs.
The Montmorency cherry is considerably larger at maturity than Bali, Meteor or Northstar, growing to about 20 feet in a northern climate. It will require more pruning, but makes an extremely handsome tree that yields a large crop. Spacing between two Montmorency cherries should be about 25 feet.
