mike6082
New Member
I'm pretty sure I have a Thundercloud Purple Leaf Plum in my back yard. It is 1-2 years old, and I think I have a problem with it.
It beared some fruit this summer, but most if it wilted pretty fast and fell off. No flowers came this year (is it too young for that?) The bigger problem (I think) is that all of the leaves have multiple holes in them.
At first, i thought it was due to the lack of rain -- live in the Northern Virginia area and I think it has rained twice this entire summer -- and with work I have not been able to water the lawn as much as I needed to. But now I'm thinking maybe it is some kind of bug eating the leaves - although I never see anything in the tree, other than the occasional spider.
I know nothing about tree care Is this (holes in the leaves) something I need to be worried about? Anything I can do to help the tree out? I would really like for it to live its full 10-15 years if possible.
I've added some pictures below. The first one is a picture of the whole tree for identification. The next two are of leaves near the top of the tree where the problem seems to be worse. The next one is of some leaves near the bottom of the tree where the problem is not as bad, but you can still see some holes. The last picture is of the 'volcano' at the bottom of the tree. Is that too close to the bark on the trunk of the tree? I'm thinking about clearing out about 1-2 inches away from the tree around it and maybe laying some new mulch on top. Is that an okay plan? If so, any particular type of mulch for this tree. I am about 40 miles west of D.C. in northern Virginia.
Thanks!!
It beared some fruit this summer, but most if it wilted pretty fast and fell off. No flowers came this year (is it too young for that?) The bigger problem (I think) is that all of the leaves have multiple holes in them.
At first, i thought it was due to the lack of rain -- live in the Northern Virginia area and I think it has rained twice this entire summer -- and with work I have not been able to water the lawn as much as I needed to. But now I'm thinking maybe it is some kind of bug eating the leaves - although I never see anything in the tree, other than the occasional spider.
I know nothing about tree care Is this (holes in the leaves) something I need to be worried about? Anything I can do to help the tree out? I would really like for it to live its full 10-15 years if possible.
I've added some pictures below. The first one is a picture of the whole tree for identification. The next two are of leaves near the top of the tree where the problem seems to be worse. The next one is of some leaves near the bottom of the tree where the problem is not as bad, but you can still see some holes. The last picture is of the 'volcano' at the bottom of the tree. Is that too close to the bark on the trunk of the tree? I'm thinking about clearing out about 1-2 inches away from the tree around it and maybe laying some new mulch on top. Is that an okay plan? If so, any particular type of mulch for this tree. I am about 40 miles west of D.C. in northern Virginia.
Thanks!!
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