Sweetheart cherry trees
£40.50 - £65.50Sweetheart cherry trees for sale
Choose a size - pot-grown
All our pot-grown trees are grown for us to our specification by the Frank P Matthews nursery.
PG12-year bush-trained 11.5L pot-grown tree, Gisela 5 rootstock£65.50
Medium tree
(2m-3m after 10 years)
PG22-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree, Colt rootstock£60.00
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
PG3Premium half-standard 12L pot-grown tree, Colt rootstock£64.00
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
Choose a size - bare-root
BR11-year bare-root tree,Gisela 5 rootstock£47.00
Medium tree
(2m-3m after 10 years)
Out of stock
BR2Spindlebush bare-root tree,Gisela 6 rootstock£54.50
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
Out of stock
BR31-year bare-root tree,Colt rootstock£40.50
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
BR42-year bush-trained bare-root tree,Colt rootstock£49.00< 5 in stock
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
BR52-year half-standard bare-root tree,Colt rootstock£53.00
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
Out of stock
Need help?
Ask our fruit tree experts on 01759 392007 or fill in our contact form.
Tree specification
Photos of trees as supplied |
Tree sizes and forms
Next deliveries
Delivery from week commencing 2nd March 2026 onwards.
Delivery charges
Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95, it is calculated based on your postcode.
All about Sweetheart cherry trees
Sweetheart has all the characteristic flavour elements of a good sweet cherry, predominantly sweet, but not at all sugary, with an underlying hint (no more than that) of bitter sharpness. The flavour is arguably richer than is usual amongst cherries. To get the best flavour, pick when fully ripe and eat immediately. We think all sweet cherries are best when eaten slightly cool, but not chilled.
Sweetheart is also self-fertile, and ripens very late in the cherry season - well into August in the UK.
Another useful characteristic is that the picking period is longer than most, because ripening is uneven - meaning you don't get the inevitable glut which is a feature of other varieties.
Growing and Training
Sweetheart is a precocious sweet cherry, and starts to bear fruit relatively young - you may get fruit within a 2-3 of years of planting, whereas most cherries will start to bear fruit after about 3-4 years.
The main thing to look out for is its tendency to set too much fruit after the blossom season (a common problem with all the self-fertile varieties). You may need to thin the fruitlets just after the blossom has finished. Sweetheart responds well to thinning, which leads to better flavour and larger fruit size.
The other side of its tendency to over-crop is that Sweetheart produces a lot of blossom and looks very attractive in the spring.
Overall this is an excellent late-season cherry for the sunnier areas of the UK.
History
Sweetheart was developed by the Summerland Research Station, British Columbia, Canada and released in 1990. It is a cross between Van and Newstar.
Sweetheart characteristics
- Gardening skillBeginner
- Self-fertilitySelf-fertile
- Flowering group3
- Pollinating othersGood
- Climate suitabilityTemperate climates
- Picking seasonLate
- CroppingHeavy
- Keeping (of fruit)1-3 days
- Food usesEating fresh
- Bacterial cankerSome susceptibility
- Country of originCanada
- Period of origin1950 - 1999
- Blossom colourWhite
- Fruit colourRed
- AwardsRHS AGM (current)
British-grown trees 
Unlike many garden centres and online retailers, the vast majority of our fruit trees are grown in the UK.
Find out more.
All our trees are certified under the Plant Healthy scheme, supervised by the Plant Health Alliance.
Other stakeholders include Defra and the RHS.
Find out more.
Guaranteed fruit trees
When you buy your fruit tree from Orange Pippin Fruit Trees we guarantee it for the first season in your garden while it gets established. If it doesn't grow successfully, we'll either replace it the following season or offer a refund, subject to some conditions.
Find out more.
More about cherry trees
Sweet cherry varieties can be classified into two groups: old traditional English varieties, and modern varieties.
The traditional English varieties are in fact mostly of central European origin (and have very un-English names) but were the mainstay of cherry orchards in Kent in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. These varieties are typified by good traditional cherry flavours, but they often have complicated pollination requirements.
Modern cherry development began at the Summerland research station in British Columbia, Canada, in the 1940s. The most famous of these new varieties is Stella but there are many others such as Sweetheart, Sunburst, and Celeste. While they lack the tradition and romance associated with the older English varieties, the flavours are still excellent and their self-fertility and easier horticultural characteristics make them a much better choice for the gardener with space for only one or two cherry trees.
Sweet cherry trees like sun, so choose a sunny aspect when planting. Cherry trees do not need much attention as they grow, a simple mulch to keep the area free of weeds is sufficient. Once fruiting begins the mulch remains important, and should be extended to match the spread of the branches, because it acts as a sponge and therefore helps prevent fruit-splitting after heavy downpours. You should also apply compost and/or manure during the winter to supply the tree with the nutrients it needs for growth and fruiting. Unlike with other stone fruit such as plums, cherries do not need to be thinned.
The other main horticultural challenge is bird protection. It's a foregone conclusion that birds will get your cherry crop before you do, because they are prepared to eat slightly un-ripe cherries whereas we are not. However the simple precaution of netting the trees just before the harvest will solve this problem - on very large and inaccessible trees drape a net over some of the lower branches, allowing the birds to take their share from the higher branches.
Some other terms that often arise with cherries:
- 'Bigarreau cherries'. This means a firm-fleshed sweet cherry variety (as opposed to a soft flesh).
- 'Heart cherries'. Whilst most cherries are spherical, many have a distinct heart-like shape.
- 'White cherries'. This refers to the flesh rather than the skin colour. While most cherries have a dark flesh, white cherries have a white or pale yellow flesh. Most white cherries are old traditional varieties.
