I’m so sick of our flowering cherry tree!

The blossom looks like confetti, Carlotta until it gets wet, goes rotten, sticks to your shoes and gets trailed into the house.

As for kerb appeal to passers-by, we live in a very small cul-de-sac, without footpaths and with open plan front gardens, so no through traffic.
The ‘offending’ tree on my neighbour’s front lawn was planted just after we moved in to the then new build development, but it’s never been properly pruned, other than an odd twig taken off.

It’s just as well we’re all different, isn’t it.

I can forgive the mess of petals for the glorious picture of the trees in full blossom, a magnificent and heartwarming sight.
I look forward to it each spring.

To me the fleeting nature of blossom is its joy. If it was here all year we would take no notice of it. These few short weeks of glorious blossom against a blue sky stay are one of my great pleasures.

I live in a cottage named after the massive tree in the garden. It's taken a long while to work out which plants will thrive under it, it makes shade and mess but my goodnes, the wildlife that live on and around the tree, its blossom, fruits and fallen leaves bring my garden to life every day of the year.

Thank goodness for that Coconutty, I'm glad to hear it.

I love them, we never sweep up. The blossom looks like confetti

I LOVE my cherry blossoms and making jam from them . I have a white one and a wild cherry pink one .

Witzend

Sorry, but I’d still prefer almost any real fruit tree, perhaps especially an apple. But I know so many will disagree!

I'm with you there. The blossom is there for such a short time that it feels like a waste of precious garden space if that is all they have to offer.
Give me a fruit tree that will also provide fruit every time.

My plum tree blossom has been lovely, and the fruit it produces, while unpredictable in quantity, is always delicious.

Right now, my two little apple trees are covered in blossom.
However, so far in the time I have had them they have not lived up to expectation fruit-wise, but I live in hope and will give them a couple more years to get their act together.

Things in my garden have to prove their worth if they are to be granted permanent residence!

We had one when we were children.. it was great for climbing..

do you have GC?

Am I missing something? Why does the petal blossom need to be swept or picked up? From what I've seen, the fallen blossom looks like a lovely pink carpet? Why does it need physically removing rather than just letting nature take its course? Is it poisonous or dangerous to animals or something?

My 4 apple trees are in full flower and absolutely stunning right now, very beautiful. I am going to have a very good crop, will be able to give a lot away as well as preserve for all of winter. Two of the varieties will keep until february in my garage. I like to see cherry trees but on a roadside verge will do me

Witzend.
You are perfectly entitled to your opinion. Personally i love cherry blossom. I remember an overcast cold April day in central London. People heads down, wearing grey and black, walking along and then a gust of wind blew a cloud of pink petals across the road like confetti. It was such a spontaneous act of grace that i have loved them even more since that day.

My DD has one on her Front garden, planted by previous owners. It's probably as old as her (30's). Every year or two they get out the long big puners and give it a good hair cut. The tree stays compact, looks good with limited mess especially over the cars.
Christmas time it's festooned in lights.

I love flowering cherry trees. We have a very pretty one in our front garden, not huge, full of blossom. It’s so lovely. We have discovered another one buried under laurels which has been cut back when they were pruned. Now, it’s full of red shoots and I’m hoping it will recover and flower for us.

When I moved into my house 50 years ago, as someone in my twenties I gave no thought to what it would be like being surrounded by trees ( which have also had fifty more years of growing since then). And I never thought of the old arthritic me having to constantly clear up slip hazards etc from my garden. My partners house ( also my son and daughters houses) aren’t surrounded by trees and are so much easier to keep clean. And they can grow flowers in their gardens, too. I do try to not clear away the leaves and pine needles/cones etc because of the insects that live in them but it looks very messy. My neighbour, who is even older and more fragile than me, has a driveway covered in slippy moss that worries me for her sake. It seems to have become much worse in recent years with the wet weather we now seem to have.

It is very sad to see people only looking at what they see is a problem and not enjoying the fleeting beauty which is there. The pleasure and joy of seasonal things seem to be brushed aside for the ability to have things all year round. So strawberries at christmas etc. Seasonality allows us to look forward and savour something. As you say things like the beautiful Magnolia are here for a short time and here in the north it shows a positive attitude to have one as the frost can often kill them and camellias too which is a shame. Yet still the gardeners plant with hope and are blessed with the beauty when it works. As said by others it also provides early nectar and food for the bees.

Did people not look about at their neighbours when they moved house? As I have moved 19 times , checking what was around me was important, and looking at gardens also showed me what I might be able to grow there myself. My only suggestions for Witzend are these.
1. you could have 2 large pots and plant in a clematis in each. One early alpina and a late viticella. By putting them in pots you will be able to feed them and water them so that the tree wont take up all the nutrients. Then wind the clematis round the branches of the tree and the early one will flower and then have lovely seedheads which will show with the later clematis.
2. Choose a different area of the garden and grow something special there so that you can look at that and turn your chair to ignore the petals etc from the cherry tree. Perhaps have some pots near the window , with eyecatching plants to take your attention from the cherry tree.
3. If it is going to really annoy you every year might you think about moving? I am not being facetious, but just depending on your life at the moment, you might be changing jobs or retiring or whatever, and it might be something that could be a consideration for future homes.

My only other suggestion is that you might choose to take a holiday at this time and that way you will not be there to see all the petals, and they dont last long do they?

There always seems to be a spell of windy weather when the cherry trees are covered in blossom.

Aldom

All part of the beauty that is Springtime.

That’s exactly it👏🏻👏🏻
However annoying for the homeowner to sweep up the petals, think of all the joy it gives to passersby Witzend😃

My neighbour has a flowering cherry on her front lawn - it’s about 34 yrs old and far too big now, loves it, so won’t do anything about it and all the other neighbours hate it. My gardener says it’s undermining my drive and caused a crack in a brick wall. In addition it’s so close to her window, she complains it blocks out the light. I suspect she doesn’t declare its proximity to her house to her insurers either.

The blossom is beautiful, but when it drops, she doesn’t do anything, so the four winds blow it up and down the street, onto our gardens and drives, where we are left to deal with it. I always put what I collect in her garden bin - often half filling it.
I should add she’s the youngest of us and has a son of 26 living at home.

Do these trees have a lifespan and if so, about how many years?

Llamedos13

*Witzend*, I love my flowering cherry, ours blooms in late May here in Ontario , we just run the mower over the fallen petals. I’m trying to figure out what VVU stands for?🤔

VVU - at a guess, Very Very Unreasonable 😁

trees (two)

For the first time our apple tree have some lovely blossom this spring. Let's hope there might be some fruit, they've been in for five years.

Witzend you may be able to get the tree pruned back. My son has a protected ancient apple tree in their garden. That sounds lovely but it’s so prolific with fruit that many, many small apples fall off and it’s like trying to walk on marbles on the paving beneath it.

He applied to the council and got permission (after six months ) to get it trimmed back and it looks so much better now.

Witzend

Sorry, but I’d still prefer almost any real fruit tree, perhaps especially an apple. But I know so many will disagree!

I totally agree with you. I’ve had one for about 20 years now and regret it. Wish I’d had a fruit version instead. 😁

Witzend, I love my flowering cherry, ours blooms in late May here in Ontario , we just run the mower over the fallen petals. I’m trying to figure out what VVU stands for?🤔

I think they look beautiful!

Bring joy to spring.

Is it in the lawn, if so the blossom can just be mowed up with the grass.