# Weeping Cherry



## slackkeymike (Jul 25, 2007)

I have a slow growing weeping cherry in front of my house (shade morning, moderate sun rest of day) that invariably looks awful this time of year. The leaves curl and get brittle. I spray with bug ang fungicide sprays. Water the root ball. Fertilize. But still no luck. The tree comes back every year...but looks so distressed this time of year. What does it need?

Mike


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## osb_mail (Jul 25, 2007)

post some pictures


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## slackkeymike (Jul 25, 2007)

ok, here are some weeping cherry pics.


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## Gate Keeper (Jul 25, 2007)

The curling usually happens with most plants from heat and lack of water. You are watering it so that can't be it. I looked for scale in the pictures you posted but could not see anything. I did notice something on the top leaf in picture one. The holes and notches in the leaves are from caterpillars? Bees? Is the tree buried too deep? Are the blotches fungal having a dark spot within the discoloration. The tips could be browning from too much water. Not sure but hope this helps.


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## slackkeymike (Jul 25, 2007)

But shouldn't application of water help? It never does. Plant has been in the ground for 3-4 years, and as you can see, it is grwoing new branches and getting thicker. I would tend to lean towards a systemic problem...something in the ground...too acidic, too basic, fungus, etc... Or something on the plant (but I have sprayed with fungicide, insecticide). Here are some leaf closeups.


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## BayouTree (Jul 26, 2007)

When was the tree planted? Was it balled and burlap or container stock? Could you post a picture of the base of the tree where the trunk meets the ground? It could be planted to deep. Do you know what species of cherry this is? What is your soil like ie: sandy or clay? Have you been getting much rain this year? Is overwatering a possibility?


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## slackkeymike (Jul 26, 2007)

Thought about posting a pic of the base, will do so tonight. It was a container, not burlap. When I got it, it had two branches. The soil around the tree is "bottom land" clay. And yes, I have since learned to plant on top of the ground...most of those trees are totally successful. It has been a dry year...but in wet years, the same thing happens. Would digging it up and repairing the soil be an option? BTW, the base is slightly elevated. No idea on species. My lawn does have irrigation.

Mike


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## treedoc1 (Jul 26, 2007)

*snow fountain cherry*

Looks like a nice young snow fountain cherry. How much of your lawn irrigation system is hitting the foliage, are the fibrous roots nice and white. Don't go looking for Zebras, it appears a lot of water is hitting the foliage from your photos. Can you lower the angle on your heads. Too much water is going to give you a scorched appearance also because of some of the root dieback.


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## slackkeymike (Jul 26, 2007)

Oops...that pic was taken during a rain storm... 

But yes, the sprinklers do hit the foliage when they are on...and they have not been on for about a month.

mike


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## slackkeymike (Jul 26, 2007)

Base of the tree


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## treeseer (Jul 26, 2007)

slackkeymike said:


> Base of the tree


hate to tell ya but that is the trunk, not the base. remove the extra mulch and dirt until you see the first roots that grow off the stem. then click.


Most Stem Girdling Roots were once small circling roots, innocent in appearance to most observers. If these roots are not straightened or cut in the nursery when trees are “stepped up”--transplanted into larger containers—this can result in a “multiple corkscrew” effect. The European nursery standards specify root pruning at every step, 4”-8” further out each time, to avoid these defects. The ANSI Z60 American nursery standards do not address this problem. The best way to expose and treat this condition is to wash off the nursery soil and correct the roots as you plant trees in the bareroot style. This process, called root washing, is growing in popularity with planters who are concerned with long-term tree health and stability. But even when roots are growing away from the stem, the tree is not yet out of the woods.

Root “balls”, the volume of soil packed inside a young tree’s packaging, have been getting rounder and rounder every year. Whether trees are grown in containers or dug from the field B&B (balled and burlapped), soil is commonly heaped around the trunk, where it does not belong. The trunk flare, where the trunk naturally turns into roots and the tree joins the earth, is all too often buried early in the growing process, and buried deeper yet at planting time. Some specifications still ignore the requirement in ANSI A300 (Part 6)-2005, 63.6.2.3, “The bottom of the trunk flare SHALL be at or above finished grade”. Instead, they instruct the landscape contractors to plant the root BALL at ground level, so the landscapers obediently follow this instruction, with disastrous consequences. 

Arborists should have the ANSI standard—available from TCIA—in hand when they talk to growers and landscape architects and landscapers about deep planting. When these professionals see with their own eyes that the American Nursery and Landscape Association and the American Society of Landscape Architects are represented in ANSI, they will realize that they don’t have a stem to stand on when they bury trees. The entire green industry agrees that we should always be able to find the trunk flare.


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## slackkeymike (Jul 26, 2007)

Very well. I read elsewhere on this forum about Stem Girdling for a silver maple. Did not occur to me that that might be my problem. This weekend, I will clear the mound and roots, and look for this. Makes a lot of sense. The tree is young enough and strong enough...so this should not be a problem.

Thanks all for the great advice...more pics this weekend to follow.

Mike


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