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.
I. Appearance and Characteristics
This tree was originally bred in England from a cross of Prunus incisa and Prunus campanulata.
With absolutely mesmerizing deep pink blooms, the Okame Cherry tree steals the show in early spring with a display that will snap you out of your winter funk in no time! These pink flowers are profuse, covering almost every inch of every branch! As the blossoms fall, pretty green leaves emerge offering shade from ever-increasing temperatures.
Fall brings more color with leaves of yellow, orange, and red. The bark is the star of the show in winter; it is uniquely red-bronze, differing from the silvery grey of most flowering cherry trees. It has lined lenticels that break up the smooth bark, characteristic of cherry trees.
The Okame Cherry tree is the perfect focal point for your landscape. Offering beauty, grace, flower abundance, and shade. This small, low-maintenance tree adds immeasurable value to your home.
II. How to Grow and Care
Sunlight and Temperature
This tree wants full sun. Make sure to plant the tree in a location 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.
Watering
When it comes to watering, be mindful of the specific climate you live in. If you’re in an area where soil dries up quickly 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 trees can 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.
Fertilizing
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.
Planting Instructions
You can purchase prunus ‘Okame’ saplings in garden centers. Pay attention to two things before planting. First, choose an area of the garden that has a lower altitude to plant your prunus ‘Okame’. This will help it to acquire enough water because its roots are shallow. Additionally, apply sufficient base fertilizer before planting it, mostly organic fertilizer. Once planted, remember to water it soon after, until the water on the surface of the soil stops draining away. When this happens you have provided sufficient water.
We generally do not sow seeds to propagate prunus ‘Okame’ because the seeds need to undergo post-ripening effects. This means that the seeds are not yet mature when they are harvested. It is only after a period of special treatment that the seeds can complete their biochemical processes and reach the condition of being mature seeds that are able to germinate.
Pruning
Prunus ‘Okame’ sprouts on branches that have strong budding capabilities. However, the branches can easily become overcrowded and need frequent pruning to maintain the shape, air circulation, and light exposure within the tree. This also helps to prevent pests and diseases while at the same time helping the leaves receive more sunlight.
Prunus ‘Okame’ can generate a large amount of fruit without any artificial pollination. Because prunus ‘Okame’ can produce a large number of flowers with a high yield of fruit, to maintain its growth and the quality of fruit, it is recommended that some flowers and fruit be removed to concentrate the nutrients for the remaining fruit. As a result, there will not be a large amount of fruit, but those left will be of higher quality and have an improved flavor.
Propagation
Prunus ‘Okame’ can be propagated by grafting. Select healthy and strong that have 3-4 fully developed buds for grafting in mid-spring, or directly use buds for grafting in the summer.
Cut a T-shaped opening in the stock, and insert the branch or bud into the cut between its xylem and phloem, while making sure the phloem vessels are in contact with each other. Then, use plastic wrapping to bind them together. After 10-20 days, when the cut has healed and the branch or bud has survived, the plastic wrap can be removed.
Pests and Diseases
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.
Common Pests
Over-fertilization is prohibited for cherry blossom trees. It can attract pests to your tree. If you find pests attacking the tree, use a pesticide to get rid of them.
Aphids, spider mites, and scale insects 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, or use either insecticidal soap or neem oil to treat. Scale may require applications of horticultural oil in mid spring.
Cherry borers generally only attack fruit trees when they’re weak or improper nutrition is present. Do not feed your tree with only high-nitrogen fertilizers; instead, feed them regularly with a balanced fertilizer to keep them healthy. Ensure the trees are not dealing with stresses from damage to the trunk, pest pressures, or other causes, as they make trees more susceptible to borer attack. Pyrethrin based bark sprays can prevent them, but the better tactic is to ensure you have a healthy tree that the borers will skip!
Common Diseases
There is a risk of rot and spot in cherry trees. This requires you to water them carefully. Overwatering can spur the growth of the fungi that cause root rot. Ensure your tree has good drainage. This also will prevent some types of crown rot.
Black knot can occur in some cherry tree species, and while these ornamental cherries are less at risk, there is a rare chance that it could appear. If the fungal gall appears on your tree’s branches, prune affected branches below the gall and remove the infected tissue entirely. Do not compost the pruned material – it’s better to burn it or dispose of it in the trash!
Powdery mildew happens in humid climates. While it isn’t likely to cause severe harm, it can spread to other plants. Prevent powdery mildew with regular applications of horticultural oil during the cool and damp season. Once temperatures get consistently above 80 degrees, discontinue horticultural oil applications. For leaf spots, you can use a copper fungicide applied in spring every 7 to 10 days until the problem passes.
Crown galls are a risk, but unfortunately, by the time you diagnose it, it’s already established. This bacterial gall is most common on the trunks of infected trees. While the tree itself may still survive despite its bacterial infection, it can spread to other plants around the tree. There are no treatments for crown gall.
III. Uses and Benefits
Best used as a specimen tree in a small home garden as an excellent landscape or accent tree. Flowers in late winter provide color when the rest of the garden is bare. Small ornamental groves of three to five trees look great planted in front of dark structures or dark evergreens which enhance the pink flowering display.
IV. Harvesting and Storage
The fruits of prunus ‘Okame’ usually ripen in the early fall and can be picked for eating. If the fruit needs to be stored or transported a long distance, it is better to harvest the fruit before it softens, such as during the late summer or early fall. Note that fruit should be handled gently and, ideally, and the twig should remain on the fruit.
