Cherry Blossom Trees Are $39 at The Home Depot, and They'll Deliver Right to Your Door
It’s time to be on the lookout for spring blooms, and there’s almost nothing that compares to seeing a flowering cherry tree after a dreary winter. You may not be able to travel to Washington, D.C. this year to see the city’s famous cherry blossoms in peak bloom, but if you’re willing to be a little patient, you can plant your own flowering cherry tree to enjoy year after year. Right now, The Home Depot has four different varieties of cherry trees available for just $39 each, and they’ll ship each one straight to your door, ready to plant in your garden.
Denny Schrock 'Kwanzan' cherry trees produce huge, puffy pink blossoms.
One of the store’s bestsellers is the ‘Kwanzan’ cherry tree, which is also one of the most popular flowering varieties. It doesn’t produce any fruit which makes it easier to care for and maintain (plus no sticky cherries dropping to the ground), and it has huge, gorgeous clusters of light pink blooms in early spring. It’s hardy in USDA Zones 5-8, and can grow up to 25 feet tall.
You could also choose a ‘Yoshino’ cherry tree, which is the most common variety in Washington, D.C. Sometimes called the Japanese flowering cherry, these trees have pinkish-white blooms in mid-spring and are more deer-resistant than other types. This variety is much taller than ‘Kwanzan’ trees, and can reach up to 50 feet tall when mature. It’s hardy in Zones 5-8, and produces small fruits that will help attract birds to your yard (and won’t make too much of a mess).
‘Shirofugen’ and ‘Accolade’ aren’t quite as well known, but they’re both still popular varieties of flowering cherry. ‘Accolade’ is common in the U.S. because it’s one of the first trees to bloom in spring with stunning coral pink flowers. It’s hardy in Zones 5-8 and can stretch up to 25 feet tall. ‘Shirofugen’ tends to bloom in late spring with pinkish-white blooms. It’s hardy in Zones 6-8 and will eventually reach up to 30 feet tall.
All four varieties ship bareroot, and should be about 3 ½ feet tall when they arrive. Wait to plant until after the last spring frost in your area (you should wait to order until you’re ready to plant, too; you can store a bareroot tree for about a week at temperatures below 60°F, but it’s better to plant soon). Soak the roots for a few hours, then dig a hole deep enough to spread them out. Fill in with soil, and water thoroughly to help remove pockets of air.
It’s a good idea to keep watering your tree every week for the first growing season, until it becomes established. Cherry trees need full sun in order to flower, and should start producing blooms about five to seven years after planting. It’s a long wait, but once your tree is established, it’ll look gorgeous every spring!
