Can I save this cherry tree?

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dan063

ArboristSite Lurker
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Pennsylvania
I am in Zone 7a and I have had good luck getting some other fruit trees (pears, apples, nectarines) off to a healthy start, but it looks like I am striking out for the third time on a lapins cherry tree. I tried a new location this time thinking that may be the problem, but once again things are not looking good. Looking at the pics, does this tree seem salvageable? If yes, what should I try?

The tree appeared quite healthy when it arrived in late March, and once planted leaves did start to grow. But then growth slowed and the the leaves that did grow remained small, and now they are curling. A scratch test does reveal green, however.

I have been trying to water regularly, but not too regularly.

Any suggestions on what, if anything, I can do to save this one?

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I am in Zone 7a and I have had good luck getting some other fruit trees (pears, apples, nectarines) off to a healthy start, but it looks like I am striking out for the third time on a lapins cherry tree. I tried a new location this time thinking that may be the problem, but once again things are not looking good. Looking at the pics, does this tree seem salvageable? If yes, what should I try?

The tree appeared quite healthy when it arrived in late March, and once planted leaves did start to grow. But then growth slowed and the the leaves that did grow remained small, and now they are curling. A scratch test does reveal green, however.

I have been trying to water regularly, but not too regularly.

Any suggestions on what, if anything, I can do to save this one?

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I would get rid of the mulch and would not have a depression around the tree for water to pool and freeze.
Then I would prune it back. In yr 2nd to last pic, it looks like you have 4 leaders. I would prune each one to about a foot from the crotch cutting to the nearest outward facing bud. There still should be a latent bud behind the leaves that popped this year and if the tree has any chance to make it, its gonna be those latent buds that you prune it back to.
 
Thanks for your replies. One more question. What does girdle mean in this context? Sorry, I am a newbie (clearly).
 
Thanks for your replies. One more question. What does girdle mean in this context? Sorry, I am a newbie (clearly).

Girdled means the bark/cambium has been severed around the circumference of the trunk/limb.

That effectively kills anything above the girdle. This can be done on purpose with a saw. Unfortunately many rodents eat bark: rabbits, voles, porcupines, beavers, .......

That tree is missing ~2-3" of bark on the trunk.

That tree was girdled by rodents. Since you have it fenced off for bigger vermin, small rodents most likely voles. They do their dirty work winter time under the snow, and girdle can be as high as the snow is.

Solution is to protect the trunk with small mesh poultry netting, buried under the soil. Or wrap the trunk with something like strips of rolled roofing material. You need to protect as high as the snowfall for voles.

And those bassturd voles will eat the roots too. Coarse stone spread around the base of the trunk will prevent that
 
Since I clearly screwed up in the original planting (too low, etc.), would trying to replant properly ever be a good idea? Or would that just lead to further transplant shock?
 
Yeah, I saw that orange paint which is why I suggest pruning it back as its about the best you can do to give it ANY chance at making it. Depending on how much roots were on this tree when you got it, if it was from a store and just had a rootball wrapped in burlap and or stuffed in a pot, Pruning would have been a step I would have taken initially.

At this point, it's really all you have to help it. When you water it, water it once a week deeply(meaning When you water it and you get moisture down to 6-8 inches then that should be enough)

I've transplanted Cherry trees that were nearly 3 times the diameter of your trunk. I did this by going out away from the trunk about 36 inches and removing top branches that were unnecessary and shortening those I kept. I'll post some pics later.
 
Since I clearly screwed up in the original planting (too low, etc.), would trying to replant properly ever be a good idea? Or would that just lead to further transplant shock?
Planting it too low would be if you planted the bud union at ground level or just below ground level. Most stone fruit trees are budded rather than grafted. Pull 2-3 inches of the mulch away from the trunk and send another pic. Its not quite clear.
 
I find it harder to locate a budded union than a grafted one but you want to look for a protrusion or change in the trunk pattern like the first pic.
The second pic is of an apple trunk that transplanted about 3 years ago. Size of the trunk hasn't grown much but the height of tree has come back to where it was when I moved it.
Last pic is a cherry trunk. I believe the bud union is right there at ground level. The only issue you would have with planting it too low is that you lose the benefit of the rootstock it was budded upon. If that stock is dwarfing and you plant it below that union, than the tree will eventually send out roots from the variety of the bud.Apple graft union.jpegapple 2.jpegcherry.jpeg
 
@dan063 Based on that last pic, I think your planting depth is fine.

How much rootball was there at planting time. Just a balled up tangled mess or was it from a pot?


I'll stop repeating myself this last time. Cut your leaders back to the nearest outward facing bud about a foot from that crotch.
 
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