Cherry Plum Hedging Plants

• Common name: Cherry Plum, Myrobalan Plum
• Latin name: Prunus cerasifera
• Sold as: Bareroot plants at 40/60cm, 60/80cm and 90/120cm
• Spacing: 3 plants per metre in a single row, or 6 per metre in a staggered double row
• Size if left unclipped: 8 to 12m tall and wider than 8m, over 20 to 50 years
• Flowers: Small and white, in early spring as the leaves open
• Fruit: Edible, plum-like, red, orange or yellow, about 2.5cm long. Not every year
• Leaves: Deciduous
• Best soil and site: Any moderately fertile soil that drains, chalk and clay included. Full sun
• Hardiness: H6, hardy through the British winter
• RHS Plants for Pollinators: Yes
• Delivered: Bareroot, November to April. Collection from Castle Cary also available

Cherry Plum is a twiggy, deciduous hedging plant and small tree that opens its small white flowers in early spring, among the first of the year, and sometimes follows them with edible fruit. It grows in any soil that drains, in full sun, and it is a Plant for Pollinators.

Cherry Plum Hedging Plants

The Cherry Plum, Prunus cerasifera is an untidy looking large shrub or small tree with a shaggy canopy that makes an excellent country or urban hedging plant. Prunus cerasifera 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're sweet and quite tasty, like a greengage with a less intense flavour. It makes an equally good hedge plant and screening tree. When it's grown as a tree, it develops a twiggy, wild looking canopy that is good for blocking sight and tends to attract nesting birds. It'll grow on most well drained soils and will reach 8 to 12 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.

Browse our full range of hedging.

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

Choosing a size:
When you are ordering Cherry Plum plants for a hedge, we generally recommend that you use plants that are graded at 60/80cm. They're cheaper than large plants, easier to handle and they'll establish well in poor conditions.
Use the larger, 90/120cm 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, 33cm apart.
You can also plant Cherry Plum at 6 plants per metre in a staggered double row, with 33cm between each plant along the row and 40 between the rows.

Planting Companions

In a country hedge, Cherry Plum mixes with Hawthorn and Blackthorn, which add the thorns that it mostly lacks. The Purple Cherry Plum is the same species with dark leaves, grown as a garden tree. Dust the roots with Rootgrow as you plant.

Why Buy Hedging from Ashridge

Hedging is not a sideline here: your Cherry Plum is grown for us as hedging by specialist growers, lifted to order while dormant and guaranteed for 12 months. Ashridge has sold plants since 1949 and is a Which? Best Plant Supplier 2025.

Frequently Asked Questions

How far apart do you plant Cherry Plum hedging?

Plant 3 to the metre, 33cm apart, in a single row. For a thicker hedge, plant 6 to the metre in a staggered double row, with 40cm between the two rows.

Can you eat Cherry Plums?

Yes. The fruit is edible, plum-like and about 2.5cm long, in red, orange or yellow. Ours are sweet, like a greengage with a milder flavour, and ripe in July.

When does Cherry Plum flower?

In early spring, as the leaves open. It is one of the first woody plants into flower each year, and it is a Plant for Pollinators.

How big does Cherry Plum grow if you do not clip it?

As a free-growing tree it reaches 8 to 12 metres in height and more than 8 metres in spread, over 20 to 50 years. As a hedge you hold it where you like.

Which size of plant should you buy?

For most hedges, the 60/80cm grade: it is cheaper than the larger size, easy to handle and establishes well in poor conditions. Use 90/120cm plants where you want height sooner.

Is Cherry Plum a native plant?

No. It is not a British native. For a strictly native hedge, plant Hawthorn and Blackthorn, and keep Cherry Plum for its early flowers and its fruit.

When are Cherry Plum plants delivered?

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