Bird Cherry Trees

• Variety: Bird Cherry, a native tree with scented white flower tassels
• Latin name: Prunus padus
• Sold as: Bareroot standards, 6/8 and 8/10cm girth
• Mature size: More than 12m tall, 4 to 8m wide
• Time to full size: 20 to 50 years
• Flowers: Small, white and fragrant, in hanging tassels, in late spring
• Fruit: Small, bitter black cherries, taken by birds
• Autumn colour: Yellow
• Position: Full sun. Exposed or sheltered
• Soil: Any moderately fertile, well-drained soil, chalk and clay included
• Native: Yes
• Wildlife: RHS Plants for Pollinators
• Hardiness: H6, hardy through the British winter
• Delivered: Bareroot, November to April. Collection from Castle Cary also available

Bird Cherry is a native tree for a big space: hanging tassels of small, almond-scented white flowers in late spring, then bitter black cherries that the birds strip. It grows on almost any drained soil, chalk included, and is on the RHS Plants for Pollinators list.

Bird Cherry Trees

Bird cherry, Prunus padus, is fast-growing, native, deciduous tree or large shrub. In late spring, they have strands of small, almond scented, white flowers that ripen into dark fruit which are popular with birds. As with most cherries, the foliage colours beautifully in autumn. They grow into large trees: the RHS gives a height of more than 12 metres, reached in 20 to 50 years.
You can also buy sapling Bird Cherries, which make great country hedge plants.
Browse our cultivated, ornamental flowering cherry tree, including the Colorata and Watereri Bird Cherries.

Delivery season: Bird cherry trees are delivered bareroot from late autumn to early spring, November to April.
Choosing a size: Small trees are cheaper, easier to handle and more forgiving of less than ideal aftercare, so they're best for a big planting project. If instant impact is your priority, or if you are only buying a few plants for use in a place where it's convenient to water them well in their first year, then you may as well use bigger ones. Our standard trees are measured by the girth of the trunk in centimetres, one metre above the ground, not by their height.

Growing Bird Cherry Trees

They'll grow on any reasonably well drained soil, including poor, compacted urban ones, and thrive on chalk. They need close to full sun to flower really well, but otherwise tolerate partial shade.

History & Trivia

Known as hackberries (also egg-, hag-, heck-, and hedgeberry), the bitter fruit are edible, but you wouldn't want to eat them unless you cooked them up with plenty of sugar. The stone in the centre of the fruit is poisonous and should be removed before cooking. Better to leave them for the birds. The young spring leaves can be steamed or boiled.

Other common names include black dogwood and hog cherry.

Standard trees are measured by their girth in centimetres 1 metre above ground level: their trunk's waist measurement. Unlike sapling trees and hedge plants, standards aren't measured by their height, which will vary quite a bit both between and within species.
So, a 6/8cm standard tree has a trunk with a circumference of 6-8cm and an 8/10 standard has a trunk 8-10cm around. This measurement makes no difference to the tree's final height.
On average, standard trees are 2-3.5 metres tall when they arrive, but we cannot tell you precisely how tall your trees will be before we deliver them.

Planting Companions

Bird Cherry flowers after our other native Cherry, the Wild Cherry or Gean, so the two together stretch the blossom. Both sit among our native trees and trees for wildlife, and a Rowan adds berries that birds take later in the year. Dust bareroot roots with Rootgrow as you plant.

Why Ashridge for Native Trees?

Ashridge has sold trees since 1949 and is a Which? Best Plant Supplier 2025. Your Bird Cherry comes as a bareroot tree, lifted to order while dormant and guaranteed for 12 months. Plant it between November and April, and it will establish readily.

Frequently Asked Questions

How big does a Bird Cherry grow?

The RHS gives it more than 12 metres tall and 4 to 8 metres wide, reached in 20 to 50 years. It is a tree for a large garden, a field corner or an avenue.

Is Bird Cherry native to Britain?

Yes. The RHS lists Prunus padus as native.

When does it flower?

In late spring, usually May. The flowers are small, white and fragrant, in hanging tassels.

Does it drop fruit?

Yes. Bird Cherry fruits freely, and what the birds leave falls, so plant it away from paving and parked cars.

Does it need pruning?

Very little. It is in RHS pruning group 1. If silver leaf is a worry, the RHS advises pruning in midsummer and not in winter.

Do you sell smaller Bird Cherry plants?

Yes. The trees on this page are large standards. For hedging and woodland planting, use the young saplings linked above.

When are the trees delivered?

Bareroot only, from November to April, while the trees are dormant. You can order at any time of year and your tree is lifted and sent once the season opens.