Cornelian Cherry

🍒 Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas)
Zones: 3–8 | Height: 15–25 ft | Spread: 12–20 ft | Growth Rate: Moderate
Light: Full sun to partial shade | Soil: Well-drained, loamy to clay
Fruit Ripening: August to September

🏞️ Product Description:
The Cornelian Cherry is a tough, multi-functional tree that brings big value to your habitat with dense cover, late-season foliage, and a heavy crop of edible fruit. Despite the name, it's not a true cherry—this hardy dogwood species produces bright red, olive-shaped fruits that are loved by game birds, whitetail deer, and other wildlife.

Flowering in very early spring and holding its leaves deep into fall, this tree adds year-round interest and utility to food plots, edges, and thickets.

🦌 Fruit, Cover, and Fall Appeal:
Its dense, shrubby growth makes it ideal for natural screens and bedding areas, while its abundant late-summer fruit provides a rich carbohydrate source ahead of fall. Birds flock to the berries, and deer readily browse both foliage and fallen fruit—making Cornelian Cherry a multi-season asset.

🌳 Why Grow Cornelian Cherry?

• Produces loads of small red fruits loved by deer and upland birds

• Dense cover makes it ideal for screening, bedding, and nesting habitat

• One of the last trees to lose its leaves—adds fall interest and shelter

• Extremely hardy and adaptable to a range of soils

• Blooms very early, providing late-winter forage for pollinators

🛠️ Planting Tips:

• Plant 10–20 ft apart for screens or wildlife hedgerows

• Tolerates partial shade but fruits best in full sun

• Cross-pollination improves fruit yield—plant two or more

• Use tree tubes to protect young plants from deer browse

• Minimal pruning required—can be maintained as a tree or large shrub

🌿 Summary:
The Cornelian Cherry is a wildlife-focused workhorse: rugged, productive, and packed with habitat benefits. Whether you're looking to build out a screening row, add late-season food, or diversify your mast sources, this tree checks all the boxes—with bonus fruit for you, too.

Late leaves. Early blooms. Always working for your land.