Weeping Cherry Tree – Propagation

Q: I have been digging up the seedlings under a weeping cherry tree and giving them to friends and family for a couple of years. Am I wasting my time? Will the seedlings be weeping cherry trees or just plain cherry trees?

A: Since cherries don’t often come up from seed, I believe you are digging root sprouts rather than seedlings. Weeping cherry trees are most often made by grafting Higan cherry, Prunus subhirtella var pendula onto the trunk of another species. One of my friends has a gorgeous specimen formed by grafting weeping cherry branches onto a paperbark cherry (Prunus serrula) trunk. Paperbark cherry has glistening mahogany bark which peels into thin sheets of tissue. What a sight! Unless your tree is a true ungrafted weeping Higan cherry, I believe your plant gifts will grow into “cheerful” cherry trees.