Janet Galpin and Oliver Patterson wrote:

I apologise if this comes up twice but I sent a mail and it seems to
have disappeared.

I am thinking of planting a cherry tree but wondered whether any
cherries are so likely to be stripped by birds that there is little
point.

I also wondered about rootstocks. A recent article in 'The Kitchen
Garden recommends new rootstocks, Gisela 5 and Tabel, rather than the
older rootstock, Colt. Space isn't too much of a problem and I'm not
sure whether their advice is only relevant if size is crucial. As far as
varieties are concerned they recommend Celeste, Cherokee, Summer Sun,
Sunburst and Sweetheart as well as the more traditional Stella.

I would be very grateful for any experiences anyone has had with growing
any of these varieties or any other cherries.

Janet G, S. Lincs
We've got Stella and another variety whose name I've forgotten both on Colt and
after over 20yrs they are still small enough to fit in a specially made high
fruit cage. The bad news is we're having to fortify the cage because the birds
will get through just about anything if there's ripening cherries the other
side. As for Dwayne's wimpy merkin birds that don't care for unripe cherries -
well ours are made of sterner stuff - just the first flush of yellow and
they're down a blackbird's (or jay's neck). It was years before we realised
Stella was supposed to be red. I have no experience of newer stocks but they
should be small enough to cage relatively easily. I would forget cherries as a
fruit crop if you can't cage them, but don't let that put you off growing them:
they will hold their own with the best ornamental varieties, the trees will
stay compact and the roots won't overrun the garden (if they *are* an dwarfing
stocks)
--
Rod
http://website.lineone.net/%7Erodcraddock/index.html
My email address needs weeding.