Fågelbär (Prunus avium L.) : överlevnad, höjdutveckling och skador i unga planteringar på småländska höglandet

Sammanfattning: Plant survival, plant damage and height growth were studied in nine wild cherry (Prunus avium L.) plantations in southern Sweden established between 2000 and 2002. All stands were located to the county of Småland. The survey was conducted during May and June in 2007. During the survey the height, diameter and quality of the cherry trees were recorded. In one stand, red – berried Elder (Sambucus racemosa L.) was a dominant species. In that stand the number of Elder bushes surrounding each cherry tree was recorded. Three of the stands were established on former forest land. The remaining six stands were established on sites previously used for agricultural purposes. The tree survival and height development varied between the stands. In three of the stands a thin black strip of plastic was used to control weed competition. In these stands both the tree survival and height growth were higher than in the other stands. In these stands plant survival varied between 71 – 92 %. In the stands without plastic cover plant survival varied between 24 – 31 %. The cherry stands in Småland with the highest growth showed a growth rate similar to cherry stands in England. Red – berried Elder did not seem to have any influence on the height growth of cherry trees. The stem quality with regards to stem straightness in the surveyed stands was in general very good. This is probably largely due to the fact that all the surveyed stands were fenced to prevent herbivores from browsing on the young cherry saplings. The conclusion from this survey is that cherry tree establishment requires control of competing vegetation. Given the right circumstances the growth can possibly be comparable to British cherry stands. Cherry could therefore be an interesting alternative species for private forest owners willing to invest resources until the cherry stand is established.