Prunus Taihaku Trees

Prunus Tai haku - Great White Cherry Trees

Prunus Taihaku is known as the Great White Cherry tree. It is a medium sized, spreading tree with large, fragrant white blossom. It grows vigorously and is low maintenance. Prunus Tai haku trees can reach a height of about 8-10 metres. You can also look at our other varieties of Ornamental Cherries for sale. This is a good sized tree with a flat canopy and spreading branches. The large, white, scented flowers are up to 6cm across and absolutely cover the tree in April, just as the new, coppery coloured leaves are peeking out. Many gardeners consider it to be the best white flowering cherry tree. Young trees are upright and goblet shaped, but old trees will often be wider than they are tall, with a canopy that is both uneven and elegant, like the profile of a rolling mountain. The dark bark is an attractive feature in winter, especially on a snowy day.

History & uses of Prunus Tai haku:
We think that Taihaku is an honorary native tree. It was extinct in Japan and thought to be lost to the world, until Captain Collingwood Ingram found one specimen in Sussex in 1923. Every Taihaku alive in the world today comes from that single plant and it was re-introduced to Japan in 1932. This tree has most deservedly won the RHS Award of Garden Merit. The main photo is shown with the kind permission of (the extremely talented) Jasper Tupman

How Standard Trees are Measured:
All our large trees are graded by their girth in centimetres 1 metre above ground level. They aren't measured by their height. So, a 6/8 standard has a trunk with a circumference of 6-8 centimetres and an 8/10 standard has a trunk 8-10 centimetres. In any variety an 8/10 is taller than a 6/8 but the heights between different varieties can vary hugely. So standard trees are roughly 2.5 - 4.5 metres tall.