If you want to add a gorgeous, charming pink tree to your driveway, look no further than the Okame cherry tree. This incredible species of Prunus is one of the most striking of the flowering tree category, with pops of color brigher than you’re likely to see in a tree of any kind.
Even when the Okame flowering cherry tree isn’t blooming, it makes a beautiful addition to your garden, thanks to its green leaves with strong orange tints in its fall color display. Its rosy pink flowers are perfect for cherry blossom festival season, and they lack the messy fruit that other stone fruit trees do.
So let’s delve in to the Okame flowering cherry tree so you can grow one at home!
Recommended Products for Flowering Cherry Tree Care:
This tree was originally bred in England from a cross of Prunus incisa and Prunus campanulata. The breeder, Captain Collingwood Ingram, was trying to create a tree with bright pink flowers, but without the low cold tolerance of the parent plants. I think it’s safe to say that he succeeded!
Before reaching maturity, it grows in a vase-shaped structure, before rounding out as it grows older. The striking pink and white blossoms will add bundles of beauty to your landscape, and it can be planted at any time of the season. Producing masses of candyfloss-pink flowers in early spring, Okame trees are ideal for small gardens or lining driveways. These are strictly ornamental trees, and don’t often produce viable fruit.
If you want a tree that attracts bees like crazy, look no further. Pollinators of all kinds flock to the rosy pink blossoms of this flowering cherry, with flowers lasting up to three weeks in the early spring. It also tends to flower earlier than other varieties of cherry, for an earlier spring burst of color.
When not in bloom, the foliage of these evergreen trees is still beautiful. It remains deep green until late August. At this point the fall foliage begins turning golden yellow before eventually fading to a deep orange and red. The leaves remain, meaning it’s not a deciduous tree. All year long, the tree dons reddish brown bark that looks great in a landscape.
You can buy your own bare root plants, or find someone with a tree and propagate from that one. Whatever you decide, you won’t be disappointed.
Popular in the south where it’s hot and humid, this tree can also tolerate a moderate to slightly cold climate. In fact, it needs a cold winter to bloom well in late winter and early spring. Grow it if you’re in zones 5 to 9.
Light & Temperature
This tree wants full sun. Make sure to plant the tree in a location from where it can be seen for your own enjoyment and has access to sunlight. If you live in a colder climate or up north, you should plant it in a location where it gets at least 4 to 6 hours of sunlight.
If in a hot climate or zones 9+, plant it in an area where it gets a bit of relief from the absolute hottest parts of the day if possible…blossom production will be better this way.
Water
When it comes to watering, be mindful of the specific climate you live in. If you’re in an area where soil dries up quicker and you don’t get much rain, you have to water much more often. After you plant your tree, water every few days, and after it’s established water once per week. In times of heavy rain, avoid watering too often.
Also, add mulch around the base of the tree to avoid early dry up. You don’t have to water as much if you’re in a colder climate that gets a bit more rain. It’s really an observation game here…pay attention to how your tree is looking and adjust your watering from there.
Soil
Flowering cherry treescan do well in almost any kind of soil. As long as the soil drains well, your tree should grow well. Make sure your soil is moist for healthy growth, though. This hybrid cherry doesn’t do well in overly wet or clay soil, so make sure that you avoid these soil conditions. Loose, fertile, well-draining soil is a good basis to start with. It will adapt to many soil types.
Fertilizer for the Okame Cherry Tree
You don’t need to fertilize too often for a cherry tree – once a year is plenty. Give it a low-nitrogen fertilizer early in the spring, so it can use that nutrition throughout the growing season. You can add a little bit of fruit tree fertilizer in place of your low-nitrogen fertilizer for a couple of feedings just before winter arrives. It’s at this time you should avoid fertilizing as your tree is dormant.
Cherry Tree Propagation
You can propagate Okame cherry treeusing the green and springy cuttings of a branch in late spring and early summer. Remove all but the top two to three sets of leaves, and dip the cutting in rooting hormone. Pot them about 2 to 3 inches deep in containers with soilless planting medium and keep it warm and mildly moist with a plastic bag affixed over the cutting and the top of the container.
Lightly mist the inside of the bag as the condensation dissipates. You should see new growth in about a month. It’s at that point you can repot into 4 inch containers. You can also graft onto another root stock, but that’s a more complicated process that is best explained in a different guide.
Pruning Your Okame Cherry Tree
Pruning is necessary early in your tree’s life if you want to save yourself effort in later trees. Because it’s not a huge tree, some pruning after the blooms fall off will help shape it in years to come.
Here’s a simple process:
After you plant your tree, cut the head to 3′ above the ground and cut all branches back to no more than three buds.
Let new shoots grow to about 10″, then cut below them to help your cherry tree bush out.
Prune off all shoots at the bottom of the tree (known as water sprouts) as well as branches coming from the center of the tree.
Continue to shape your Okame cherry tree as desired for the first 4 years of its life.
Troubleshooting the Okame Cherry Tree
While the Okame cherry tree is resistant to most pests and diseases, there are a few things to look out for. Here are those, along with a couple of growing problems.
If you plant your tree too deeply, it will be stressed and have less access to water and nutrients that keep it safe from pests and disease. If you just planted it, you can try to remove it and plant it slightly higher with a mound of soil at its base. However, you may have to work around issues that arise if it was planted too deeply a long time ago.
If you overwater your tree, the soil remains wet long enough to support disease pathogens that can cause root rot, and the proliferation of other fungal diseases.
Pests
Over-fertilization is prohibited for cherry blossom trees. It can attract pests to your tree. In case you do find pests attacking the tree, use a pesticide to get rid of them.
Aphids, spider mites, and scale are common pests of cherry blossom trees. They suck the tree juices as they congregate on your tree. Aphids cause leaf curling, and leaf drop. Spider mites cause light yellow stippling on green leaves. Scale insects congregate in slimy brown masses on branches. You can spray aphids and spider mites off the Okame cherry tree with water. Scale may require applications of horticultural oil in mid spring.
Borers generally only attack fruit trees when improper nutrition is present. Do not feed your tree with high-nitrogen fertilizers and feed them regularly to keep them healthy. This also prevents borers. There is no treatment for these pests.
Diseases
There is a risk of rot and spot in cherry trees. This requires you to water them carefully. Overwatering can cause the root to rot. Similarly, under watering can lead to dried leaves that will eventually fall off. The tree may also experience blight and mildew. To treat blight, it is best to prune the affected parts of the tree to ensure the remaining tree remains safe.
Mildew usually occurs when scale and aphids are present. Control them to prevent mildew. For leaf spots, you can use a copper fungicide applied in spring every 7 to 10 days until the problem passes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How fast do Okame cherry trees grow?
A: Usually, these flowering cherry trees grow around 2′ (0.6m) per year and mature plants max out at 20-30′ tall, but the highest recorded one is 43′ tall!
Q: Will cherry tree roots invade the rest of my yard?
A: The roots of a cherry tree are typically closer to the surface of your soil and send out a lot of of surface roots and sucker shoots. Be careful where you locate your tree, especially if you have hardscaping nearby.
Q: How long does the cherry blossom season last?
A:Blooms of the Okame cherry usually last for about a month every spring. The blossom season is weather dependent and can occur between early March and early April ideally.
Q: Does Okame cherry tree produce cherries?
A: The hybrid Okame cherry tree is sterile and doesn’t usually produce fruit.
Q: Are cherry trees messy?
A: In general, other flowering cherries can be. However, this flowering cherry doesn’t produce the fruit that can cause the mess in question.
Q: How long do ornamental cherry trees live?
A: In the context of flowering cherry trees, they live a short life of about 30 to 40 years.
Q: How do you prune an Okame cherry tree?
A: The pruning section of this piece has a really concise and effective guide for pruning.
Q: How far should a cherry tree be planted from a house?
A: Because of their short life, and their growth rate, plant your Okame cherry tree at least 6 meters from your home.
Rate of growth is medium, especially when young, so expect 1- 2' or more per year. As with most cherry blossom trees, the Okame is noted for being hardy in USDA Zones 6-9. Okame Cherry and other Japanese flowering cherry trees are early spring time favorites for their cherry blossoms in the landscape.
1. Kwanzan Cherry. Easily the showiest of all Flowering Cherries, the Kwanzan's blooms aren't just pink but double pink, meaning you get twice as many petals and twice as many blooms.
Okame Cherry trees, like most flowering cherry trees, have a shorter lifespan with a life expectancy of 20 to 40 years. Because this variety of trees grows slower, it tends to last longer than other cherry tree varieties.
A mature full-sized cherry tree will have a root system spanning 33 to 39 feet in diameter. As for depth, the roots wouldn't grow beyond 3 feet deep. Dwarf cherries have a smaller root system that spans 10 feet wide and 1 foot deep.
3-4 Year Old (Approx. 3-3.5 Ft) Barbados Cherry Tree. Barbados cherries are a sweet-tart fruit, which goes excellently with making jams, jellies, pies, and many more delicious treats.
Growing either type of cherry trees requires some difference in care. However, in general, they just need to have good air circulation, an adequate amount of sunlight, and well-drained and fertile soil. However, cherry trees are vulnerable to root rot. Thus, the soil needs to be well-drained.
Water the tree every 3 days for the first few weeks, then water weekly, aiming for at least 1 inch of water each week. If you plant your tree when weather is warm, it's a good idea to check the soil under the tree every few days to ensure it never becomes completely dry.
Yamazakura takes the top spot among the most commonly viewed wild sakura flowers. These sakura, also known as Hill Cherry, can often be spotted among Japan's mountains. Like the Yoshino, these sakura blossoms also appear in light pink petals of five.
Cherry trees are easy to plant, and are best planted while dormant, between November and March. Bare-root trees are only available while dormant, for immediate planting, but containerised trees are available all year round. They can potentially be planted at any time, but will settle in best from late autumn to spring.
The Okame is one of the shorter flowering cherry trees, reaching a mature height of about 20 feet. With its short height and pretty flowers, the Okame serves as a great specimen tree for smaller yards.
Flowering cherries prefer an open and sunny site, which isn't too exposed. Strong winds in spring will blow away much of the blossom, reducing the overall flowering display.
The Okame Flowering Cherry tree thrives in full to part sun and loose, well drained, moist soil. However, this tree can tolerate drought, heat, and humidity and is adaptable to a variety of soils. Water deeply with a hose when newly planted at least twice weekly.
Fruit-bearing cherry trees can be quite messy if you don't pick the ripe fruits right away when they grow. This is because overripe fruits tend to fall into the ground, making the garden messy.
Only one sour cherry tree needs to be planted for pollination and fruit set. Many sweet cherry varieties cannot produce fruit from their own pollen and are considered self-unfruitful. These plants require cross-pollination for fruit set.
But if you want to know which cherries are the sweetest of the sweetest, that would be any of the black cherries. Bing cherries are the leader of this pack, along with their siblings Lambert, Chelan, Sweetheart, and Tulare. You can recognize them by their dark color and heart shape.
Cherry trees are easy to maintain, but can have problems with disease. They make a beautiful addition to any front yard. Shop online for Flowering Cherry Trees.
Cherry Trees enjoy moist soil. They need an inch of water every two weeks while they're young. It may be a good idea to keep up with the rainfall with weather reports, or a rain gauge to see how much rainwater your trees are getting. During times of drought, your trees may need a little extra water.
Threats include black knot fungus, which infects twigs and branches, overharvesting and lack of management in forest stands, and the eastern tent caterpillar, which can defoliate the tree. ...
Too much water can also suffocate cherry tree roots, causing stunted trees that don't bloom or set fruit and can ultimately lead to plant death. More cherry trees die from too much water than too little. That's why learning more about cherry tree watering is so important.
Give your cherry tree enough water to soak the ground all around the roots. It's important to note that, even if you're in the midst of a “brown-lawn drought”, you shouldn't water too much. Once every 7- to 10-days (or even once every two weeks) is plenty. Worse than dry, thirsty roots are waterlogged, drowning roots.
Never heard of Macon, Georgia? You're missing out. The Southern city is home to a whopping 300,000 Yoshino cherry blossom trees that turn the entire city pink every spring.
While some cultivars grow to be moderately large, it's possible to grow Japanese flowering cherry trees in containers or even as bonsai plants if you choose a compact cultivar.
The only pruning necessary at that time would be to remove any broken or damaged branches and/or roots. Plan to prune your cherry trees every year during their dormant season.
These trees should be pruned in early spring, before the sap starts to flow (March). This will remove some spring flowers, but promotes better growth. Pruning can also be done right after flowering. The time to make a long lasting effect on the form and structure of the plant is when the tree is young.
Plan for at least 25 feet between each cherry. Semi-dwarf sweet cherries grow 15 to 18 feet tall and wide, whereas dwarf sweet cherries top out at 12 to 15 feet tall and wide. Space semi-dwarfs 20 feet apart, and dwarfs 15 feet apart.
Cherry tree root systems grow closer to the surface than those of many other trees, and cherry trees tend to have a large number of surface roots and sucker shoots that grow vertically from them. Because of their shallow root systems, cherry trees have the potential to cause significant damage to surface landscaping.
Cherry trees benefit from full sun, but will suffice in shady locations. Planting in a sheltered location is recommended to prevent uprooting in strong winds. Avoid waterlogged soils. Planting near a building should be fine, but the distance away should be based on a tree's spread.
Ground cherries pollinate themselves, so small-space gardeners can enjoy this crop, even if they have only one plant. Encourage good soil fertility by applying a slow release organic fertilizer at planting time and then again in mid-summer.
Cherry trees typically live for around 20-40 years but the lifespan is entirely dependent on the variety. Ornamental cherry trees have only a short lifespan with many barely making it past 20 years whereas the cultivars more prized for their fruit tend to live for around 30-40 years.
This causes unsightly trunk cracking that hurt the tree's ability to take up moisture and nutrients and leaves an opening for insects. Protect the bark with tree wrap and remove the wrap in spring after the last frost.
Cherry trees thrive in a location that gets full sun and has a well-drained, fertile soil. “Full sun” is defined as at least 6 to 8 hours of sun each day. Sunlight is critical to fruit production and quality, and also helps keep fungal issues from getting a foothold.
Although adaptable to many soil types, Cherry Blossom Trees prefer acidic soils. Water – During the first season, Cherry Blossom Trees require moderate watering care, preferably once a week for 30 minutes or to a depth of 18 inches. Once established, simply water once every two to three weeks.
Because the blossoms are so close to peak bloom and are exposed from the protection of the buds, they are particularly vulnerable to cold temperatures right now. Cherry blossoms start to sustain damage when temperatures hit 27 degrees; at 24 degrees, up to 90% of exposed blossoms can be affected.
Cherry trees make great shade trees because they are tall with a large canopy that provides plenty of shade. They are also extremely colorful with edible fruit and flowers that will attract wildlife. Cherry trees generally grow at a quick rate of 2ft per year, giving you shade quicker than other trees.
On average, cherry trees planted as saplings take between 4 and 5 years to reach maturity. By that time, you can expect to harvest a full crop every year. However, some varieties have faster growth rates than others.
The Okame is one of the shorter flowering cherry trees, reaching a mature height of about 20 feet. With its short height and pretty flowers, the Okame serves as a great specimen tree for smaller yards.
The fastest growing flowering cherry trees grow 3 feet per year. Yoshino flowering cherry (Prunus yedoensis), also known as Potomac cherry and Tokyo cherry, has a canopy in an oval, rounded or umbrella shape that reaches 35 feet tall.
Newly planted trees or shrubs require more frequent watering than established trees and shrubs. They should be watered at planting time and at these intervals: 1-2 weeks after planting, water daily.3-12 weeks after planting, water every 2 to 3 days.
Cherry blossom trees do best in a sunny, sheltered spot – strong winds can strip a tree of its blossom. Trees that produce sour edible fruits, such as the Morello cherry, can tolerate some shade. Cherries can tolerate a wide range of soil types, as long as it is moist and well drained.
Initial pruning and training is the same for all types of cherry. You can train them either as a free-standing small tree (usually known as a bush), or as a fan tied on to wires spaced 30cm or less apart.
If you want to slow down the bloom time, put the branches in a cool, dark basem*nt, she said. If you want to speed things up, put them in a warm, bright place.
Plant cherry trees in early spring or late fall (when the ground is soft and has a higher moisture content) in a sunny site with good air circulation and deep, well-drained soil. Apply mulch and water well.
Montmorency cherries are bright red with flesh that is firm and yellow. They produce a clear juice. They are regarded as the best tasting cherries for baking or making preserves.
Introduction: My name is Aracelis Kilback, I am a nice, gentle, agreeable, joyous, attractive, combative, gifted person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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