Cherry Plum Trees & Hedge Plants

Prunus Cerasifera Hedging

The Cherry Plum, Prunus cerasifera is an untidy looking plant with a shaggy canopy that makes an excellent country hedging plant. Prunus cerasifera, is a large shrub or small tree that is one of the first woody plants to flower each spring, starting in February and usually continuing until April. It has a few thorns. Its small, red/purple plums are edible, about an inch wide and are ripe in July. They are sweet and quite tasty, like a greengage with a less intense flavour. It makes an equally good hedge plant and screening tree. When it is grown as a tree, it develops a twiggy, wild looking canopy that is good for blocking sight and tends to attract nesting birds. It will grow on most well drained soils and will reach 6-8 metres if it grows freely as a tree. The plants on this page are young saplings, ideal for planting as hedging or in woodland projects. You can also buy large, ornamental Purple Cherry Plum trees here, which have a much tidier canopy.

See our selection of native hedging plants or view our full range of hedging.

Cherry Plum hedge plants are only delivered bareroot, during winter (Nov-March).

Choosing a size:
When you are ordering Cherry Plum plants for a hedge, we generally recommend that you use plants that are graded at 60/80cms. They are cheaper than large plants, easier to handle and they will establish well in poor conditions.
Use the larger, 90/120cms high plants if you want a taller hedge quickly or for instant impact as a specimen tree.
All our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Spacing a Cherry Plum hedge:
Plant Cherry Plum hedging at 3 plants per metre, 33cms apart.
You can also plant Cherry Plum at 5 plants per metre in a staggered double row, with 33 cms between each plant along the row and 40cms between the rows.