Help reviving a newly planted weeping cherry.

12 years ago

Hi,

I planted my new weeping cherry about a month or so ago. When I bought it, it was dormant so I couldn't tell much about how it was doing. The person who helped me out at the store loaded it in my truck the wrong way and it spun around and received a small gash to the trunk on the way home. I was told here on the forum to watch out for suckers because of that. I think it has been getting them (small sprouts around the base of the trunk?) And I have been picking them off.

The tree started getting green sprouts about three weeks ago. And some have turned to leaves. There were quite a few days we were supposed to get tons of rain, so I didn't water...then the rain didn't show. I think because of that the tree has been under watered a little too much for a new tree. From now on I plan to just water no matter what everyday to avoid this.

Today I noticed the tree seems to be dying. There are a couple branches that have green leaves. Then quite a few that the leaves have turned brown and shriveled up. There are also a lot of remaining buds that never opened and have hardened and turned brown.

Today I gave it a good watering and followed with some tree and shrub food. I am wondering of there is still hope to bring this tree back since there are still some green leaves? What do I need to do? I also pulled off the dead leaves. I'm not sure if that would help or not but I thought it might encourage growth the same as dead-heading flowers.

At this point I'm not sure if this is an under-watering issue, or if there is something else wrong with the tree. I noticed when I got it home from the nursery, it looked a little cracked near the graft point (or at least what I assume is a graft) and there were a couple branches that were cracked off that looked brittle. But since it was dormant I wasn't sure what to expect. Then about a week after planting I noticed the branches were peeling. It sort of reminded me of a sunburn. Not sure of that is a sign of anything?At that point it was still being watered daily.

I'm trying to debate if I can save the tree or if I should look into getting a refund. I have heard from several people after i bought this tree, that they have had issues with trees dying from the same store.
I'm just not sure if its something as simple as needing more water. Or something more.

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Comments (9)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
take a hand trowel/ and dig a small hole ... AND FIND OUT IF ITS DRY OR SOPPING WET .... 3 to 6 inches down ... then adjust water appropriately ...

the tree is stressed.. NOT HUNGRY... never feed a stressed plant ...

is your soil clay.. did you amend the planting hole..

can you provide a pic

ken
eknit
Original Author
12 years ago
Oh I didn't realize that. I hope the plant food won't hurt it too much? I don't think there is much if any clay on our soil.

I will try to see if I can get a picture of it uploaded later today.
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eknit
Original Author
12 years ago
Sorry I still haven't taken any pics yet. But when you say stressed do you think it is a watering issue? I've watered it the past couple days but I am finding conflicting info on how often weeping cherries should be watered. I hope everyday is ok and not too much. I do think it may have been under watered up to this point though.
famartin
12 years ago
It could be over-watered, under-watered, or something unrelated. How much water are you putting on it daily? Enough to lightly wet the soil is not enough. Enough to flood the whole area is too much.

Pictures pictures pictures.

This post was edited by famartin on Sat, May 31, 14 at 0:56
eknit
Original Author
12 years ago
Here I tried to get a picture of what is sprouting up around the base (are these suckers?). There were some bigger ones right at the base that I have broken off a couple of times.
eknit
Original Author
12 years ago
This is the part where the leaves are still green. In the background you can see where some of the buds have turned brown.
eknit
Original Author
12 years ago
I've tried uploading a picture of the part where the leaves are dead, but for some reason it keeps saying the files are too large. I even tried a couple of different pictures. Hopefully this is enough to tell if it is at least able to be saved.

As far as watering, I have been holding my garden hose over it for around 5 minutes each day. It is hard to tell exactly how much it is pooling because of the mulch. I have been watering daily since I wrote the original post, and the tree has been looking about the same each day.
famartin
12 years ago
Hmm... frost damage? Or transplant shock. Either way, you can give it time. If you like.
eknit
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks. I'm pretty new to planting trees. By the looks of it, do you have any idea what its odds are of making a comeback? And what can I do to help it along? Just continue to water daily? I've had a hard time finding good info on what weeping cherries like in terms of how often to water, etc. I will give it a little time because I have wanted one of these forever and I have quite awhile left to be able to get a refund if it doesn't start to look better.