Ever had one of those trees

[rockm]

I have a black cherry that is currently dropping new green leaves. It is shedding them all at once. I don't know why...I suspect some fungal issue, but who knows...

I've had this tree for over 15 years now. It is always has some kind of drama going on , borers one year, tent caterpillars the next, rot, now dropped leaves.

I wouldn throw it out it it weren't for its trunk and bark, which are pretty spectacular. It's kind of like a high school girlfriend I had who was a real pain in the A@#, but (at the risk of sounding like a cro-magnon), also had a pretty spectacular trunk and bark.

 

[Poink88]

Pics please.

I think my crabapple is, in a way, similar. I love the deadwood...problem is it is creeping. All the new growth are healthy so I am hoping it will start reversing the process eventually. Otherwise, all I have left will be deadwood!!!

 

[fourteener]

I go to my favorite nursery and he gives me a product that's not actually for sale. He gives it to me in a plastic bag, tells me to never touch and to wash if I do. It cures everything, I don't ask questions. We've had all the children we're ever going to have. It's a systemic and it works.

I look left, I look right, I use it, it gets tucked away.

That being said, I'm all for systemics on trees with bigger problems. I am generally a minimalist when it comes to these things, but every once in a while being nice doesn't help.

 

[Mac In Oak Ridge]

Rock,
We are now in increasing sun exposure. The Equinox was on 20Mar so the sun is moving our way, roughly a third of the way to the summer solstice.

When all leaves drop at aprox the same time I suspect a root problem, perhaps a little extra moisture in the roots over the winter killed them back, the leaves came out, the sun got on them and the roots can't provide what they need right now because they are damaged.

 

[Poink88]

Love the bark and the deadwood is nice too.

How do they respond to hard chops? Do they back bud easily or not?

 

[rockm]

"When all leaves drop at aprox the same time I suspect a root problem, perhaps a little extra moisture in the roots over the winter killed them back, the leaves came out, the sun got on them and the roots can't provide what they need right now because they are damaged"

No. Not the problem. Roots are fine. Checked. Leaves have some black spots and wrinkling. Looks fungal. New growth at the ends of shoots is not affected, no wilt or indications of root problems.

"How do they respond to hard chops? Do they back bud easily or not?"

They respond like weeds, backbudding all over the place. HOWEVER, they are a difficult species to work with since they are pioneer species, meaning that they grow wherever nothing else will, like in recently excavated or disturbed areas. That means they're fast growers that colonize an area quickly with fast growth. It also means they're adaptable, and will give up on main trunks, branches etc. at the drop of a hat in favor of root suckers and pushing new shoots in other places if their main route of growth is blocked or disturbed. This can happen with little, or no, provocation. I've learned that you can't can't reliably prune new growth until the fall or you risk losing branches. Hard prune too much and you get the same, dropped limbs. Even "established" branches that have been happliy growing for a decade will go if the tree feels it's not worth keeping.

They're not easy. I wouldn't fool with it if it weren't for the bark and rugged trunk. That doesn't happen that often with this species (prunus serotina). The vast majority of the trees I've seen (and they're extremely common here in Va.) have smooth, gunmetal grey bark and trunks that aren't all that interesting.

This one is relatively old and I found it at the end of a wooded cul-de-sac on a hot sunny slope frequented by weekend teenage beer drinkers in trucks. The drunks ran over and backed into this one for a decade or more, producing the big scar and killing most of the trunk.

 

[JudyB]

I have many on my land. Dug one up a couple years ago, all it did was collect pests and problems. Not worth the trouble,(for me) although the bark is great, and I like yours.

 

[catfish chapstick]

It's kind of like a high school girlfriend I had who was a real pain in the A@#, but (at the risk of sounding like a cro-magnon), also had a pretty spectacular trunk and bark.

This made me laugh. Great analogy

I hope the tree gets better.

 

[Poink88]

Thanks rockm. I am actually on a lookout for local (wild) cherries, not sure if they share the same traits but good to know just in case.

 

[davetree]

I had high hopes for this tree. It was a lot of work to dig up, the rootball was in clay and was really heavy. There is a thread here on this Amur stump, but it has died back, sprouted in weird places, and died back again. I am going to plant it back in the ground as soon as it stops snowing here. I feel your pain.

 

[Poink88]

Here is my crabapple (w/ natural deadwood). Pic taken 3 weeks ago.

View attachment 34524

 

[rockm]

Dario,

That's got some possibilities, although the left side looks to be gone. Might not be, though. I've worked with apple and they are extremely tough trees. They're also worse than cherries for bugs and fungus and other stuff. I wish I still had mine in spite of all its trouble. I sold it a while back because I just got tired of spraying and picking wooly adelgids off of it.

 

[Poink88]

You are right, the left side is totally gone ...and as I mentioned, the deadwood seems to be creeping slowly. For now the growth seem to have stopped it but I should know more the next few months. I checked a bit to see the root system and it is very healthy. The entire container seem to have been colonized by fine feeder roots and if the die back continues, it could be some sort of pest that my initial insecticide treatment did not eradicate.

 

[dick benbow]

back in the good olde days, in between broadcast jobs, I'd keep body and soul together landscaping and pruning.

I had one customer that had an olde cherry that she wanted drastically reduced. I advised her that they don't take kindly to that kind of shock and that I would do it slowly over the years.
naturally she couldn't wait and ended up giving the job to someone else. Yep, it died.

So your stories of the drama queen having something stressful going on is quite natural. might slip it out of the pot and see how the roots look.

Don't give up on it. Just whatever you do when it comes to working on it, do it in bits and pieces.