These two trees bloom in the spring then lose most of their leaves for the rest of the year.

==they should not be leafless the rest of the year ....

but they are a short lived flower show in spring.. then they lose the flower petals ... for the rest of the year ...

just trying to clarify some terms ....

ken

The trees should not lose most of their leaves after blooming. Perhaps they suffer from cedar apple rust or some other disease. Have a specialist look at them.

Thank you all for your help!

The crab-apple is almost bare now except for some leaves remaining at the top. It did the same last year, our first full year here. But there was a huge caterpillar infestation in RI then and many trees ended up leafless, so we chalked it up to that. Until the pattern of blooming and losing its leaves repeated itself this year.

We used to refer to it as "the dead tree". Thanks for ID-ing it.

The cherry tree isn't as bad but had a noticeable loss of leaves after all the pretty pink petals were gone. We'll get someone to come and look at them. Thanks again!

Crab is probably one of the older, effectively obsolete Rosy-bloom types prone to mildew, rust or scab and being defoliated by a fungal disease issue such as this. If it were mine I would just cut it down. If you would still like to have a crab on the place you can replace this one with a more modern and showy, disease resistant selection.

The cherry is also thin looking and appears to have had a major limb cut off, a big split in the bark. It is probably another one that really should be removed and replaced with a better adapted flowering tree.

Cornell University - Woody Plants Database -

Find the right tree for your site

http://woodyplants.cals.cornell.edu/home

In Rhode Island, it could be gypsy moths or winter moths, both of which are present in your area and can defoliate trees in spring. Or it could be foliage diseases, but IME the caterpillars can be more of an issue.

In either case - fungi or insects - identification is a matter of studying the leaves at the time they are being lost. If these are disappearing without dropping and littering the ground beneath the trees it will be insects chewing them up. Insects which should be visible on the plants.

i agree with embos comment.. that you have overly mature.. older variety plants .. that most likely should go into the trashbin of history ...

ornamental trees do not live forever.. and often.. it is easier and cheaper to be done with them.. rather than pouring money into what is basically a lost cause ..

it appears that you have plenty of room in that lawn.. to plant a couple young.. new and improved varieties [if you insist on staying with the same plants] ... so while you ponder what to do with these in the next few years.. you get a couple new things going ... in tree time.. you need not do anything with them ...

just dont go spending a fortune on trying to fix them.. imo ...

ken

Thanks all. It seems you are correct that the problem is a fungal disease and also that these trees are probably as old as the house. Right now the crab-apple is so bare that by looking at it you would think it's January and not mid-summer.

Next spring we're removing a number of tired and overgrown shrubs and trees from the front of the house (rhododendrons, pieris, a defoliated dwarf alberta spruce, and something called "corylus avellana contorta" that I greatly dislike) and we'll be removing the crab-apple and cherry as well and replacing them with other ornamental trees. I plan to use the database that Embothrium posted (thanks!) and open to any suggestions.

I really appreciate all your advice. I moved to rural RI after having lived all my life in the Caribbean, in a city, so this is all new and very exciting to me.

Good luck!