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HELP! Ornamental cherry..very sick (I think!)

Last post 12-07-2009 10:26 AM by Mike-and-Lucy. 2 replies.

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  • 10/07/2009 07:13 PM
    • su
    • hove, east sussex
    • 10 Jul 2009
    • 1
    Not Ranked
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    Big SmileHello, am after a bit of advice.

    We have an ornamental cherry tree in our garden I believe is rather sick. in 2007 the tree was spectacular - blossom, cherries and leaves fell in Autumn.In 2008 - blossom poor, no cherries and leaves fell in June.. yes JUNE! and this year it has been exactly the same. Very little blossom, no cherries and Our poor cherry tree has brown, dry crisp leaves and it is dropping every where.

    Has the tree got an infection ,or has it come to the end of it's life? [:'(]

    I've searched the internet and haven't come up with anything. I have n't noticed any black fly, moths or sticky ooze on the trunk

    Any ideas gratefully recieved

     

    Thanks

     
  • 10/07/2009 07:17 PM
    In reply to
    • MC_Emily
    • Lincs / Notts border
    • 20 Apr 2009
    • 9
    Top 500 Contributor
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    A lot of trees are suffering at the moment because of the lack of rain.  Our weeping willows have dropped some of their leaves and they're well established (6-7 years old) and we live by a river!!  The ground, however, is clay so dries out very fast.  It's possible your tree is suffering the same way. 

    Jaqy
  • 12/07/2009 10:26 AM
    In reply to
    Not Ranked
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    Hi,

    Your description fits closely with my observations of the ornamental cherry in my front garden. It comes to life in April, creates a halo of suffused pink which fades rapidly, and then struggles for the rest of the summer with crisp, brown leaves that fall in late May and June.  The bark shows vertical cracks that do not appear to be suppurating.

    I watched it go through this behaviour in our first year here 2006, but read somewhere that nutrient deficiency could cause bark cracks - referred to as False Silverleaf.  As the tree is situated in the middle of a gravel drive, I gave it a good feed during the summer of 2007 after it had shown the symptoms during that spring.  The 2008 blossom was fantastic and I thought that I had resolved the problem but it has come back with a vengeance this year.

    I watched it closely through this spring and am pretty convinced that what is happening is that the tree is coming to life after the winter & creating a display of buds but, as the sap moves, some microbial pathogen is also coming out of senescence and attacking the buds.

    I see from this website that Cherry trees can suffer from a disease called "Blossom Wilt".  The description matches closely with both our problems although there does not appear to be much of a solution.  This is the link http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0302/blossom_wilt.asp

    regards,

    AIM