Prunus Avium Lapins Sweet Cherry

Prunus Avium Lapins is a very popular self fertile cherry endorsed by the RHS Award of Garden Merit and Perfect for Pollinators title. It is deciduous, easy to grow and a good choice in a compact garden as it doesn’t require a fruiting partner.

A cultivar of wild cherry Prunus Avium Lapins produces a dark red cherry that is ready to pick in July. It has a mild, sweet flavour that makes it a favourite of commercial producers. In spring Lapins will produce a mass of oval textured dark green foliage alongside sweet delicate white cherry blossom that smothers the branches in a snowy display and attracts all types of pollinators. Small fruits appear as the blossom falls and swell into large deep red glossy cherries. This is a heavy cropper and tends to produce a lot of well-flavoured fruit at an early age.

Height and Spread of Prunus Avium Lapins
Lapins is a more upright cherry than other varieties and depending on rootstock will grow between three to eight metres and spread no more than four. The height and spread are easily controlled with pruning.

How Hardy is Prunus Avium Lapins
Sweet Cherry Lapins is hardy in all the UK when its feet are kept from waterlogged conditions, but as with all cherries the blossom is at risk of late frosts. If the forecast shows sub zero temperatures cover the blossom with fleece otherwise the fruit harvest will be damaged.

How To Use Prunus Avium Lapins
This is a self fertile cherry, so it is perfect for small gardens that only have space for one tree. It looks stunning in spring as an ornamental fruit tree on the lawn with its snowy covering, and works well as a large border scheme too. It grows equally well fan-trained or in a large well watered container. Lapins is a very versatile cherry tree. If you have a wildlife garden Prunus Avium Lapins is one of the best way to attract pollinators and birds. Lapins cherries have a good flavour straight from the tree or when used in preserves and tarts.

How To Care For Prunus Avium Lapins
Cherries are not fussy about soil conditions and provided they are not waterlogged will grow in most soil types of any pH. A sheltered, frost-free spot away from drying winds with plenty of sunshine will produce the best harvest, but cherries can manage with less. It’s best to give Lapins an annual boost of well-rotted organic mulch to improve the flower and fruit harvest. All cherries should be pruned in the summertime if you want restrict their height or remove branches, but Prunus Avium Lapins fruits on old wood, so don’t remove too much after the cherries have fallen.

This Lapin variety of cherry tree is thought by many to be one of the best sweet fruiting cherries in the UK. It crops heavily with a sweet firmly fleshed dark red fruit, and looks stunning as an ornamental tree too.