MONTY’S PLANT OF THE WEEK

AUTUMN CHERRY

Prunus x subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’ is a small tree, growing to about 6m tall, which produces delicate, semi-double pale pink flowers from now right through until spring. The leaves are bronze in spring, turning green in high summer and a fine yellow in autumn. The autumn cherry can be planted in almost any position and any soil as long as it’s reasonably well drained, and is very hardy. It is a surface rooter so if planted in a lawn, the grass will not flourish in the area around the tree. Keep it weed-free and mulch around the trunk in a circle with a radius of up to a metre.