Album of Photos here. Hi! We are Germany, in zone 6b.
There's a sweet cherry tree that my wife's Opa planted when our oldest daughter was born. It's never really fruited. But my daughter knows it's 'her' tree and she loves it. It's a sorry little thing, but Opa has passed on. And it came from him.
Two years ago, I noticed a certain amount of sap bleeding, gummosis and sort of knobby growth at the extreme ends of the branches.
This year I noticed a weird freaky kind of growth and similar scars on the trunk.
Yesterday I had a Baumpfleger (specialist) out to look at it, but he said that he didn't see much money in saving it, and he wasn't interested in helping, even for pay. Here in Germany, every Baumpfleger I've spoken with has said they don't do any kind of spraying, and that the tree needs to make it on its own.
I want to save this tree. I have looked into what it could be, but unless you are talking to real people the internet says it's either cancer or lupus. It's never lupus.
It could be canker, or fungus, maybe somesort of nematode infection or a bacteria. Some reports I've read, say copper helps, some university agriculture programs say not really. Some say cut the infected parts off, some say don't.
I'm more than part Greek so I have the urge to spray it with bleach, because bleach fixes everything. That's a joke.
I really have no idea what to do, and it will break my kids' hearts if we don't try. Opa's not with us anymore so saving this thing is important. Does anyone have any advice?