Prunus Tai Haku Great White Cherry

Prunus Tai Haku, common name Great White Cherry, is a deciduous tree, a Japanese ornamental cherry tree variety which grows to a medium size. New foliage emerges red and matures to green over the summer. It produces an abundant display of dazzlingly white blossom each spring in late April / early May. It has an AGM from the RHS. The full botanical name of this variety is Prunus Serrulata Tai Haku.

Prunus Serrulata family are known as the Japanese Cherry trees. The Japanese Cherries of garden origin are a large group of extremely ornamental flowering cherries, many varieties having been cultivated in Japan for over 1,000 years, famed for their abundance of flowers in Spring and long used as an ornamental tree in European gardens.

Prunus Tai Haku is perhaps the best of the white flowering. Each year the young foliage unfurls in a copper-red colour. Against this rich coppery-backdrop, single pure white flowers appear in April & May in abundance creating a stunning display. The flowers are quite large for a cherry & can reach up to 6 cm. As the foliage matures, it turns green for the summer before turning a golden-yellow in the autumn.

The Great White Cherry has a fascinating association with Collingwood ‘Cherry’ Ingram, the famed British Plant collector. By the early 20^th century, Prunus Tai Haku had disappeared from cultivation in Japan. A Japanese Cherry world expert, Ingram is widely acknowledged to have reintroduced Prunus Tai Haku to its native Japan in 1932, after locating it in an English garden.  

Height and Spread of Prunus Tai Haku
The Great White Cherry is a mid-sized tree with a spreading crown. It can reach up to 12M height and width of up to 8 – 12 M.

How Hardy is Prunus Tai Haku
The Great White Cherry is a robust variety of Japanese Cherry and is frost hardy in all areas of the UK.

How To Use Prunus Tai Haku
This is a striking ornamental Japanese cherry tree which will develop an attractive broad spreading shape over time. Use it as a signature tree.

How To Care For Prunus Tai Haku
This warmth-loving tree prefers full sun. It should thrive in any aspect. It will do well in any moist, well-drained soil and does not have a ph soil preference. Pruning isn’t required, but wayward or damaged branches should be removed in winter.