In the industry we often "sweat" bareroot trees before planting, which means giving them unusually warm conditions to encourage bud break. Sometimes it seems the plants are so deeply dormant (they've usually been in cold storage since late fall) that they don't want to "wake up". This may be the case with your Amelanchier. Patience often pays off here -- it may snap out of it any day. I've seen it happen, though, where the tree comes out of its coma quite late when the weather's getting hot, and the tree experiences a significant amount of stress trying to play catch up under difficult conditions. If this occurs to your tree, coddle it by mulching the root zone with 2-3 inches of pinebark mulch (a good idea, anyway), and making sure it gets an inch of water a week - from your hose if there's no rain. BTW, keep the mulch 6 inches out from the trunk -- don't lay it up against the bark, or make one of those mulch volcanos around the base of the tree. Those methods are asking for trouble with a healthy tree, much less one that's struggling.

Good luck!

Marty

Thanks for your insights & advice, Marty! I have mulched both trees with hardwood (not pinebark--is this bad?) mulch--nope, no mulch volcanos either ;) and keeping well away from the trunk. I will continue to give it time and thorough waterings.
Thank you again!

That hardwood mulch sucks all the Nitrogen out of the ground. That could be part of the problem.

Jeff's right, hardwood mulch is not a good choice. It annoys me no end that it's marketed as interchangeable with pine bark. The problem with HW mulch is twofold. First, as it decomposes, it ties up the nitrogen in the soil, making it unavailable for your plant. (In case anyone's interested, it's actually the bacteria working on the hardwood that are using all the nitrogen -- they need it to fuel their work breaking down the wood.) Second, and actually worse longterm, is the fact that HW mulch raises the pH of your soil over time. A longitudinal study at of mulched oaks at W KY Univ. showed that those mulched with HW declined and got chlorotic (yellowing of the leaves) over a period of five years, and the pH of the soil of those trees rose to over 7.5 (quite alkaline) -- and it was that alkaline several feet deep, due to the leaching of the mulch. Since most garden plants prefer a pH between 6 and 7 (except rhodos, azaleas and so forth, who like 5 to 6), this is obviously Not A Good Thing.

That's the end of my HW mulch lecture. :) But stick to pine bark or pine straw for the sake of your plants.

So DurtGrrl, if you can replace that mulch without too much trouble, it would be A Good Thing (I'm channeling Martha Stewart tonight). If replacing it would be a big PIA, get yourself some Espoma Holly-Tone fertilizer and sprinkle it on the mulch. This fertilizer is about 97% organic, which means it's naturally slow-release, and it's acid in reaction, which will help counter the alkalinity issue. If you can find some liquid humic acid, buy some of that and water the Holly-Tone in with a solution of that. If the west side of Nashville is accessible to you, I know Moore & Moore West Garden Center sells this stuff.

Your trees will love you for it.

Marty

YIKES!! Hardwood mulch ties up the nitrogen, huh? Dangit. I wouldn't have thought of that.

That's really interesting. I can de-mulch the trees but sadly I just mulched my veggies with it (it was cheap at Lowe's of course). Before planting, I ran a macronutrient test on the soil in the veggie garden and found that while the P & K were fine, the N was deficient (last year it got mulched with HW mulch too). Plus the soil pH in my yard ranges from 6.5 - 8.0, depending on where I've added a lot of compost. Marty--thanks so much for the advice about the fertilizer and the humic acid--I'll get some and go for it. Yeah, I'm over in Hillsboro village so it won't be tough to get to Moore & Moore, I think.

*kicking myself for buying the cheapest mulch*

;)
Jess

Hey -- I grew up in Hillsboro village. I live in Knoxville now, but I still feel fondly towards the area. Do you ever pass by the big brick house at the corner of 24th and Barton? That was our house! :-)