Identification: ornamental cherry with horizontal growth

I would like to plant an ornamental cherry tree that has a strong horizontal growth. Could someone please tell me what varieties to look for and if there are some to see around Vancouver?

Thank you.

 

I could suggest 'Shirotae' and 'Shirofugen', both of which have nice broad shapes and are often healthy-looking trees around here. 'Shirotae' blooms mid season with double white flowers and 'Shirofugen' blooms last of all, also with double white flowers but they turn pink before dropping. You can search this forum for descriptions and photos, and check the cultivar names in the Cultivar Locations forums for places to see them.

Here are the first examples I came up with, 'Shirotae' on the left, 'Shirofugen' on the right.

 

'Shirotae' mentioned above, also known by some as 'Mt. Fuji' has a rather nice branch structure for pruning.

It's one of few trees that I've made a page for, mainly because of many online resources listing 25' (about 8 meters) as the width. And although some are that big, its worthwhile to let folks know what the variety is capable of:

Basically, I don't find the potential dimensions to be a problem, but rather a benefit. You can see our son in the image below. He came out that day to help with tree pruning cleanup. This tree was in Wilsonville, south of Portland.

 

If you want to plant your tree next year, the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival is promoting "Birthday Blossoms" as a special fund-raiser. 'Akebono' is one of the cultivars being offered, which also has a spreading crown and unpruned, makes a beautiful tree. You can read more about Birthday Blossoms at the festival's website.

This 'Akebono' is growing where I live.

 

Sorry, I meant to mention, if you want to see some 'Akebono', just go outside right now. They're in bloom most places - Burrard Skytrain Station is probably the best and best-known location. There are a lot near the Cambie entrance to Queen Elizabeth Park.

 

Akebono is also one of my favorites.

It has a remarkably nice head of bloom, so to speak.

: - )

 

'Shirotae' has been mentioned as a martyr to cherry bark tortrix. I have not seen any damage to this particular kind myself, that I remember.