# Sand Cherry (Prunus pumila) > A low, tough shrub of dunes, beaches and sandy prairies, with white spring flowers and purple-black cherries for jam from its second or third year. Also called sandcherry, dwarf cherry, western sand cherry, Great Lakes sand cherry, Susquehanna sand cherry. Category: Nut & Fruit Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sand-cherry/ ![Sand cherry (Prunus pumila) narrow leaves and ripening purple-red cherries on a stony lakeshore](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/sand-cherry-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Super cyclist, Public domain ยท [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APrunus_pumila%2C_South_Ste._Marys_Island.JPG)* ## Facts - Type: Shrub - Mature height: 1 to 8 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 3 to 6 - Grows wild in: Sandy barrens, rocky ground, stream banks, old fields and edges - Native range: 26 states, north to North Dakota, south to Arkansas and west to Utah (Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming). Also recorded in 1 other state, outside its native range - Sun: Full, Part - Soil moisture: Dry, Average - Growth rate: Slow - Traits: Edible, Wildlife value, Drought tolerant, Bears young, Salt tolerant, Showy flowers, Rare, Erosion control - Sold as: Saplings, Seed Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. ## Availability Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed. ## Notes Sand cherry is a low shrub of dunes, beaches, sandy prairies and pine barrens across the northern half of the country, from Maine and the Great Lakes west to the plains. It varies from a creeping mat on river shores to an upright shrub on Great Lakes dunes, where its deep, running roots help hold the sand. Its prairie form, western sand cherry, has given garden cultivars bred for fruit, and sand cherry is a parent of the purple-leaf sand cherry sold for gardens. Tennessee and Ohio list it or one of its forms as endangered, and Iowa, Vermont and Massachusetts as threatened. Plant a patch on a sunny, sandy bank or slope, where it holds the soil and feeds birds. ## Size, growth and what to expect Sand cherry grows slowly, about a foot a year in our growth estimator, and it spreads by underground runners into patches. It stands from a foot to 8 feet tall, creeping on shores and dunes and upright elsewhere. Seedlings begin to fruit in their second or third year. Clusters of two to five white flowers, about half an inch across, open from April into June with the young leaves. The cherries ripen from late July into September, purple-black and a third to half an inch across. They can be eaten fresh, though many are bitter, and they make good jam, jelly and syrup. Birds and small mammals eat them. It grows on dry, sandy, gravelly and rocky ground, on dunes, beaches, sandbars, sandy prairies, oak savannas and pine barrens, usually in the open. In Michigan's jack pine barrens it shelters nesting Kirtland's warblers. Its western form has been planted west of its native range for fruit, and the plants in Oregon are counted as introduced. ## How to grow Sand Cherry Sand cherry needs full sun or light shade and a dry, sandy or gravelly soil that drains fast. It takes drought, limy ground and very acid soil, and it grows on salty sites. Its roots run and sprout, so give it room to form a patch, or set plants 4 feet apart for a hedge or windbreak. Keep each one 2 feet from a wall. It is small enough to grow within 15 feet of overhead wires. Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. Sow the cleaned pits outdoors in fall, an inch or two deep. For spring, chill them damp in the refrigerator for 100 to 120 days first, and keep them damp until sowing. Water weekly through the first summer, then only in long droughts. Rabbits and rodents chew the twigs of young plantings hard, so fence or cage them for their first few years. Older plants recover from chewing by sprouting again. Sand cherry sets fruit with its own pollen, so one plant bears alone. Bees and other insects carry the pollen. After a fire it sprouts back from its deep roots and runners. ## Sources - [USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System: Prunus pumila, Taylor 2006](https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/shrub/prupum/all.html) - [Flora of North America, vol. 9: Prunus pumila, Rohrer, with its four varieties](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250100401) - [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Prunus chapter, Bonner](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Prunus.pdf) - [Native Plant Trust, Plant Finder: Prunus pumila, dwarf sand cherry](https://plantfinder.nativeplanttrust.org/plant/Prunus-pumila) - [Purdue Arboretum Explorer: Prunus pumila, sand cherry](https://www.arboretum.purdue.edu/explorer/plants/516/) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Prunus pumila](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PRPU3) - [Minnesota Wildflowers: Prunus pumila, Sand Cherry](https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/shrub/sand-cherry) - [NatureServe Explorer: Prunus pumila](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.141511/Prunus_pumila) - [Tennessee Natural Heritage Program: Rare Plant List 2025](https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/environment/natural-areas/documents/na_tn-rare-plant-list.pdf) - [Ohio Department of Natural Resources: Rare Native Ohio Plants, 2024-25 Status List](https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/odnr/natural-areas/2024-25_Ohio_Rare_Native_Plants_Status_List_FINAL_draft.pdf) - [Iowa Administrative Code 571-77.3(2), threatened plant species](https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/iac/chapter/571.77.pdf) - [Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department: Endangered and Threatened Plants of Vermont, 10 February 2022](https://vtfishandwildlife.com/sites/fishandwildlife/files/documents/Learn%20More/Library/REPORTS%20AND%20DOCUMENTS/NONGAME%20AND%20NATURAL%20HERITAGE/ENDANGERED) - [Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife: List of Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern Species](https://www.mass.gov/doc/printable-list-of-endangered-threatened-and-special-concern-species/download) - [New York Natural Heritage Program: New York Rare Plant Status Lists, December 2024](https://www.nynhp.org/documents/321/rare-plant-status-list-2024.pdf) - [Pennsylvania Code, Title 17, Section 45.14, Pennsylvania Rare](https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/017/chapter45/s45.14.html&d=reduce) ## Read before planting - [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md) - [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md) - [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md) - [Native trees for the Great Lakes and Midwest: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-the-great-lakes-and-midwest/index.html.md) - [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md) - [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Sand Cherry, add ?species=sand-cherry with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=sand-cherry&zone=3&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Sand Cherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=sand-cherry): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard. - [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=sand-cherry - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Sand Cherry is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=sand-cherry - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Sand Cherry needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=sand-cherry:1 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Sand Cherry flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.