Hello all. I am brand new here. I bought a house about 6 months ago and with it came a very run down koi pond in the back yard. The pond is in great shape now and has given me so much enjoyment that I've decided to build a Japanese garden around it.
I would like to include a cherry tree in my garden, but due to space issues I need a dwarf cherry tree. Something along the lines of 10-15 FT tall. I found a website that has dwarf cherry trees but I am wondering if all cherry trees are Japanese or if some wont look right? Also on the website it talked about some trees needing another tree to fruit and some can produce fruit on its own. Do I need a tree that fruits or just one that blooms?
PS: For anyone in the LA area; I visited the Japanese garden at Cal Poly Pomona today and found it to be wonderful. Its small but very nice.
Hi tara dwarf or conpact. how dwarf ? Most of flowering cherry came from Japan. We have over 300 named variet of Cherry trees. Fuji sakura/fiji zakura is compact cherry tree. USDA bans import cherry trees from Japan. so 1that limited number of cherry exist in US. during in spring, cherry tree atract many catapiars.(and it's mother ^^). Because of it, Chree tree is not recommanded to plant next to, close to pond. yama
I would definitely choose Prunus mume for this, the early flowers with penetrating sweet fragrance are hard to beat. Surely worth putting up with a possible fruit mess.
Many Japanese garden plants are marginally adapted to California- it might be possible in your garden to plant a california storax (google "calphotos styrax redivivus" for images)which will reach 15', is deciduous, and will relish the heat and drought, and has knockout beautiful early summer flowers. Be warned- it is rather uncommon (maybe check Tree of Life, Rancho Santa Ana BG) and looks pretty stark the first couple of seasons in the ground.
