We grow five different cherry varieties on our orchard. One white cherry (Rainier) and four red cherries (Lapins, Kootenay, Sweetheart & Sentennial).  Please refer to our Cherry Varieties page which explains in more detail the difference between each variety.  Note each variety has a slightly different harvest window depending on when it is expected to ripen. This is indicated next to the variety in the checkout above.

Our White Cherry (Rainier) is our late December variety which has a small ripening window and is most affected by weather conditions leading up to harvest.  At this stage we expect to harvest our Rainier Cherries just before Christmas and just before New Year's.  If you adopt a Rainier Tree with the intention of receiving its Cherries for Christmas and we are unable to provide this, we are more than happy to provide a refund.  

The Lapins is our next variety to be ripen which we expect at this stage to harvest just before New Years and throughout the first week of January.  

Please note that once our Cherries have ripened, they can sit quite happily on our trees for a period of time, which does allow some flexibility within the delivery windows.  

Please check your spam and/ or junk folder first.  If you have purchased multiple trees using the same email address, please be aware that you will only receive one confirmation email from the first purchase. 

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Your confirmation/congratulations email will include the login details for your Tree Dashboard.  If you still can not find the confirmation email, please contact us at cherries@forestlodge.nz

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We understand that things happen, so please contact us on our email address cherries@forestlodge.nz

Absolutely, no problem. Please log into your Tree Dashboard, go to 'Update my Details' and update to the delivery address that you want your Cherries sent to.  Please note that this address will have been originally populated from the billing address entered at Checkout.  

You are able to change your Delivery Address up to 5 days before your delivery date which will be advised to you well in advance.  About 3 days before your cherries will be sent, you will receive a NZ Post Tracking Email - please double check the delivery address and for any urgent changes after you receive this email please contact us directly on cherries@forestlodge.nz.  Any last minute address changes that result in additional postage costs will be charged to the purchaser of the tree.

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We have indicated next to each Cherry Variety its rough harvest timing, being late Dec, early Jan, Mid Jan or Late Jan.  The timing of when our Cherry varieties ripen and become ready to harvest is very much weather dependent. In November we plan to update you with a more specific delivery window that will likely be across two or three days depending on the weather leading up to the harvest and the availability of NZ Post Overnight Perishable delivery dates.

Just prior to harvest, we will send out a reminder to double check your delivery window dates and delivery address. About 3 days before your delivery window you will receive a NZ Post Tracking email and continued Post updates until your Cherries have been delivered.  We use NZ Post Overnight Perishable delivery service.

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You will get a tracking number in the days leading up to dispatch. This is us, getting ready to ship your cherries. Use this tracking number for any queries around delivery direct to NZ Post. If you are not having any luck contacting NZ Post, please let us know on cherries@forestlodge.nz as we want to make sure that you get your cherries on time and at their absolute best.

Please don’t click this as it adds 24 hours onto your delivery. This is a NZ Post system, as it takes them this time to change the address and where the parcel is sent.

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If you contact us directly we can change the postage label before it even gets into the hands of the courier. This is best done as soon as you get the postage notification from us in the 3 days prior to cherries being sent. Any last minute address changes that result in additional postage costs will be charged to the purchaser of the tree.

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Yes, but we are not currently sending to the far North Island rural addresses as we have found that the time it takes to get there especially in the summer heat means the cherries don’t arrive at their best. If you can get them sent to a nearby non rural we really encourage that, especially in the North Island.

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We highly recommend that our White Cherry (Rainier) is not sent to rural addresses as it is a very delicate Cherry. Please also note that if you are sending to a rural address, we can not guarantee the condition or date your Cherries will arrive as it is very much dependent on NZ Post.  Where we can we will send your delivery a day or two earlier to help ensure it does arrive on time.

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In some circumstances your Cherry delivery could have been held up in the post or handled rougher than expected resulting in damaged Cherries - Please contact us urgently with photos on cherries@forestlodge.nz if this occurs so we can remedy.

Absolutely! We have found our Tree Adoptions very popular as client and employee thank you gifts. Please email us at cherries@forestlodge.nz. or if you are wanting to send 2kg boxes instead, please visit our corporate orders page to place your order.  We can also include a thank you note, a small gift or card from you to make it a more personalised gift.

Yes, our normal presale will open again in October 2025.  Please subscribe to our mailing list at the bottom of the page to be kept up-to date with our news, offerings and any special discounts.

You can reset your own password by clicking on 'reset password' on the Login page. If you still have issues with your password or logging on, please email us on cherries@forestlodge.nz.

Yes, absolutely! Please email us at cherries@forestlodge.nz to arrange a day and time to visit.  Your visit will be subject to our availability, and is usually easiest for us between 9.30am - 2.30pm from Monday - Friday.

Our Cherry Tree Adoption is valid for the number of selected harvest's chosen and is not the same as one calendar year.  A harvest season runs from 1st February to 31st January each year.  If you adopt a tree in July, you will receive updates on your tree between July to January the following year, and you will receive your Cherries in December or January (depending on your variety). In February we will then ask if you want to renew your Adoption for the next harvest year.

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We only select our best Trees to be adopted in our Orchard, with each of our Trees expected to produce at least 6kgs of high quality, export grade Cherries.  When harvesting your Tree, we select your Cherries based on quality and size, ensuring that the adoptee receives the best Cherries from their adopted tree.  In some instances we may also include a few cherries from another tree to ensure that the adoptee does receive 6kgs of high quality and great sized Cherries.  

Please note that the longer the Cherries have had on the Tree to ripen, the larger on average they grow. If you select one of our December varieties, you will find that they are on average smaller than our January varieties.  With our Lapins and Kootenay, the later the delivery date the larger on average these Cherries will be.

Unfortunately, we can only send your Tree Adoption Cherries to one address. Your 6kgs of cherries will be sent in one outer box, with three x 2kg boxes inside, making it is easy to share with friends and family.  Our Cherries can easily last up to a week once received if they are kept refrigerated.

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If you want to send boxes to other addresses, we suggest you purchase multiple single 2kg boxes - these will open for Pre-sale in October 2025.  Please subscribe to the mailing list at the bottom of this page to be kept in the loop with our news, offerings and any special discounts

You will not be emailed every time there is an update posted to your Tree Dashboard as we did not want to inundate you with emails.  We suggest you simply login periodically to your Tree Dashboard to read your updates.

Throughout the year we will provide regular updates to your Tree Dashboard, of which the majority will be general updates showing the stages of tree and fruit growth throughout all seasons including leaf fall, pruning, pollination, blossom, frost fighting, fruit set, fruit growth, maturity and ripening, plus any relevant news about the orchard.  We will also provide a few specific photos and videos of your adopted tree when we hang your tree plaque, at blossom, during fruit set and harvest. 

Absolutely! Please email us at cherries@forestlodge.nz and we will send you a Tax Invoice with our Bank Account details attached. Once payment is received, you will be emailed your login details for your Tree Dashboard.  If you would also like to order multiple Trees, this could also be a good option

Absolutely. We have found our Tree Adoptions very popular as gifts especially for birthdays, grandparents and for client and employee gifts. 

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At the checkout tick the box that says I am purchasing this gift. You will then receive a Gift Certificate along with an email about the Tree Adoption which you can pass onto the recipient. 

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When it comes to time to claim their Tree, they need to go to www.forestlodge.nz/claim-your-gifted-tree, choose a variety and enter their details along with the unique code on their gift certificate. They will then receive a confirmation/congratulations email that will include the login details to their Tree Dashboard which holds all the updates along the way.

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