Why plant Accolade Flowering Cherry?
You’ll give the Accolade Japanese Flowering Cherry tree rave reviews when it graces the stage (your yard) with a spectacular production of frilly pink cherry blossoms in early spring. Valuable honeybees will buzz their appreciation for the bonanza of pollen your tree will provide, too! Later the reddish-brown branches are concealed with dark green foliage that turns to orange-yellow in fall. Just another spring beauty to add to the garden!
Accolade Flowering Cherry arose from the Waterer family nursery of Knap Hill in Sussex, England in 1952. Knap Hill Nursery was started in 1770, so the Waterer's knew a thing or two about plants. The nursery supplied landscape designer Andrew Jackson Downing with plants when he landscaped the White House grounds in 1850. Knap Hill’s specialty were azaleas and rhododendrons, and their name is still respected among fanciers of those plants. ‘Accolade’ has received three official “Accolades” from the Royal Horticultural Society—two Awards of Merit and a First Class Certificate.
How to use Accolade Flowering Cherry in the landscape?
This small to medium sized ornamental tree fits the style of just about any type of garden, whether it’s a hip urban patio, a grand formal estate, or a suburban backyard retreat. A single specimen underplanted with daffodils and grape hyacinths will make a perfect spring picture, and a row of fast-growing Accolade Cherry trees along your property line will create a beautiful, low-maintenance privacy screen all season.
Planting Zones
Hardiness Zone: 5-8
How To Plant Accolade Flowering Cherry
Some Cherries live fast and die young, but Accolade is a hybrid between two Flowering Cherries with strong pedigrees. Its parents, Higan Cherry and Sargent Cherry, are both long-lived and resistant to disease. Accolade is partial to full sun and freely draining soil, but will put up with otherwise less-than-perfect conditions. This is a fast growing tree, so plant a few, and you’ll soon have your own Cherry Blossom Festival in short order!
How To Water
Watering your freshly planted Accolade Flowering Cherry is crucial for the future growth and health of your tree. Immediately after planting, water deeply and thoroughly to ensure the rootball has been saturated.
In the following weeks, you'll want to water your tree every two to three days. Again, this should be deeply and thoroughly, water slowly to allow the roots the time to absorb the water. As the roots begin to work their way into the surrounding soil, you can lessen the deep waterings to every five to six days.
Be mindful of your tree - if the leaves appear to be wilting or yellowing, it is communicating that it requires more water. Keep in mind that environmental factors - temperature, rainfall and soil conditions - will alter the watering needs. If you have specific questions regarding the watering of your tree, contact our Plant Whisperers for guided watering assistance.
How To Fertilize
It is best to first fertilize your Accolade Flowering Cherry when planting. We recommend our Bower & Branch Starter Plant Food as it will add vital nutrients that will help promote a stronger root system and a larger root mass, encouraging your tree to establish itself faster. After that, we recommend fertilizing each spring and fall for at least the next three years, as this will ensure that your tree has access to key nutrients that will encourage it to be happy and healthy as it matures.
How To Prune
The best time to prune your Accolade Flowering Cherry is in late winter to early spring, ideally before it breaks dormancy for the season. At this time of year, you'll be able to clearly see the branching structure and you can selectively prune as a result. Be sure to remove damaged or diseased branches, as well as any cross or rubbing branching. As the Accolade Cherry is considered a 'small' tree, less pruning is required. However, regular pruning for shaping purposes can help promote healthy growth and enhance the overall appearance.
How Does Shipping Work?
Bower & Branch Trees, the real BIG trees, don’t fit in a box! Our big trees, sizes XL and bigger, require expert delivery and care, that means our extra-large trees are shipped on Bower & Branch trucks. We are the only ones who know how to ship our big and bigger trees and plants with tender loving care. We deliver your trees and plants directly to you. Ask Bower & Branch about planting services – we'd be happy to assist in installation.
*For Big trees and Shrubs, Size XL and bigger: Review our Seasonal Shipping Timelines and Policy here.
Your trees and plants are grown across the United States at various Bower & Branch Growers. Depending on your location, your plant orders may be shipped from various locations. Please expect orders with multiple items to be delivered over a number of days as a result. Orders made up of numerous items or selections will not arrive at your home on the same day.
Shipping Delays:
From time to time, Bower & Branch Growers may determine to delay order shipment based on various factors for plant health. Weather in your region, as well as, where your plants are grown, is always considered when shipping. Extreme weather conditions may delay some or all of your order. Bower & Branch allows our Growers to make final shipping decisions based solely to benefit your trees and plants’ health and success.
How Does Sizing Work?
The size of our trees have nothing to do with the container size like you may find elsewhere–big doesn't mean just height - it’s also vigor, age, and overall health. Other online retailers are going to tell you that a plant is a seven gallon, that means nothing to your tree or plant (or you.)
Our trees for sale online are graded on large, x-large, and even bigger sizes. This is because our trees are sized by their age—the higher the letter, the more mature the tree. The age determines the trees’ overall height, size of the trunk and the overall branch density.
All of these characteristics are what you should be looking for when choosing a tree for immediate impact and instant curb appeal. Our extra-large tree and plant sizes are sure to wow you and your neighbors!
See the size guides below.
Our Guarantees
3-YEAR-TREE GUARANTEE:
Bower & Branch offers a Three-Year Tree Guarantee on all of our trees, sizes X-Large and up. Only the finest and the most experienced growers are awarded the opportunity to grow for Bower & Branch, so we offer the best guarantee available.
If your tree(s) should fail for any reason during the three-year guarantee period, you will receive an online gift card in the amount that you originally spent on the tree.* You can then use this online gift card for any Bower & Branch Purchase.
* Bower & Branch provides online gift cards in the amount of the original purchase price of the tree(s). The amount does not include any additional costs such as delivery, planting, tax, or any other products or services. Online gift cards can be applied towards any Bower & Branch purchase on BowerandBranch.com and have no expiration dates. Bower & Branch does not guarantee tree replacement or availability of any desired product at any time. Cash refunds are not offered. Bower & Branch requires that all original tags and receipts are present when a guarantee request is initiated. The Bower & Branch Three-Year Guarantee only applies to plant material that has been planted in the ground. Container plantings are NOT covered.
At Bower & Branch, we do our best to honor all guarantee fulfillment requests to ensure customer satisfaction. However, we reserve the right to refuse the request if the required guarantee steps were not satisfied. Bower & Branch also reserves the right to deny any guarantee fulfillment request that is made as a result of animal damage, problems with plant hardiness and zone issues, or acts of nature (snow storms, hurricanes, and similar).
Reach out to a Plant Whisperer with any questions:
- Email: plantwhisperers@bowerandbranch.com
- Phone: 866-873-3888
- Or via Online Chat