Sweetheart Sweet Cherry Tree (Prunus avium ‘Sweetheart’)

Sweetheart Sweet Cherry Tree

Your Sweetheart Sweet Cherry Tree (Prunus avium ‘Sweetheart’) will create a spectacle in your yard once friends and neighbors have sampled its delectable fruit. Easier to grow than other Cherry varieties, this is both a low-maintenance and easy-going tree! Sweetheart is quickly becoming a wildly popular tree! It’s self-fruitful and a perfect choice if you only have room for one tree. In fact, the addition of another variety will only serve to increase your production and harvest.

Mid-April brings honeybees and butterflies to help pollinate the pristine, scented, pinkish-white flowers which result in a late harvest of mid-July Cherries that dot the tree, just like tiny, brilliant ornaments amid the shiny, bright-green foliage. The shiny, bright heart-shaped red exterior covers the smooth, crisp skin of this exquisite Cherry.

The interior red flesh is meaty and firm, but with a deliciously sweet flavor that will make your taste buds water. A slight hint of acidic-tart undertone is just enough to provide the perfect amount of bite to this unique Cherry. It even remains crisp long after being picked. What’s incredible about this Sweet Cherry is that it ripens over a period of a couple of weeks, so your harvest season is extended…and what a harvest it is!

Autumn transforms the shiny foliage into shades of orange, pink or red for yet another decorative show! Hardy throughout USDA growing zones 5 to 8, Sweetheart can become a good-sized tree at 30-35 feet in height. Of course, as with most Cherry Trees, even the bark itself is lovely. The reddish, dark-brown hue even becomes fissured on older trees for added interest!

Planting and Application:

The healthy fruit and juice from Cherries are just one of the great reasons to grow this tree, but the firm, crisp flesh makes for fantastic fresh eating and snacking but also incredible jams, jellies and pies! These can get to be big trees, so you’ll have plenty to share with friends and family, neighbors and the local songbird population!

Sweetheart Cherry Tree has many ornamental features and outstanding, summer fruit! These Cherry Trees would look spectacular lining your driveway, or even just one in your front or side yard would be sure to be noticed! Sweetheart is not only a source of wonderful fruit but also a lovely tree for your yard and can be pruned to maintain almost any height! Perfect for an edible landscaping statement piece, specimen and fantastic shade tree, these trees fill your landscape with 4 season interest!

Add to an existing orchard to help pollinate other Sweet Cherry Trees or plant as a focal point tree you can set up a table and benches under for shade! This Cherry tree does not require cross-pollination, but for the largest harvest, we recommended you include an early to mid-season ripening Sweetheart, Black Tatarian, and even the Montmorency Sour Cherry can be used as a pollinator. You’ll enjoy boosted harvests from both trees and extend your harvest by almost a month with a careful selection of later-bearing partner trees.

  • Meaty, Firm & Juicy Sweet Cherries
  • Scented, Gorgeous Pinkish Blooms
  • Large Canopy & Shiny Bright-Green Foliage
  • Ornamental Features – Pinkish Scented Blooms & Great Fall Color!
  • Self-Fruitful Heavy Producer
  • Late & Prolonged Harvest
  • Fresh Eating, Pies, Jams & Jellies

Tips for Care:

Provide fruit trees like Sweetheart a full sun site with at least 6 hours of direct sunlight a day. Cherry Trees need to be planted in rich, well-drained soil. Ensure that your planting site has good air circulation, and that gets morning sun, if you can, which quickly takes care of morning dew to keep your plants healthy.

One of the easiest Cherry trees to grow, these are perfect for the beginner home gardener or home orchard. Low maintenance too, they are vigorous growers and produce a heavy crop of fruit from an early age! So you won’t have to wait long for your first juicy harvest

Prune fruiting Cherry trees in late winter to open the canopy to sunlight and airflow, to remove dead, damaged or diseased limbs. Prune Cherry trees in spring to shape, and remove water growth or suckers. It’s easy to prune the Sweetheart Cherry tree to under 10 feet tall. This is called summer size control pruning, and it makes harvest a lot easier.

  • Full Sun
  • Regular Moderate Moisture
  • Rich Well-Drained Soil
  • Appreciates Mulched Beds
  • Cold Hardy
  • 700 Chill Hours

Choosing a Sweetheart Sweet Cherry Tree ensures that you will have an attractive tree that is also a heavy producer of extra-large sweet, juicy fruit. What a way to bring a spectacular finale to your summer!

Sweetheart Sweet Cherry Tree (Prunus avium ‘Sweetheart’) Details

Common name Sweetheart Sweet Cherry Tree
Botanical name Prunus avium 'Sweetheart'
Plant type Deciduous
Hardiness zone 5-8
Growth rate Medium
Harvest time 3 - 5 years
Height 30 - 35 ft.
Sunlight Full Sun
Moisture Medium
Soil condition Widely Adaptable
Pollinator-friendly Yes
Pruning time Late Winter
Flower color Pinkish White