Prunus Nigra needing attention

jomalone14

Hi all

I have a 10 year old Prunus Nigra tree in the garden which hasn’t been doing that well for the last couple of years. Currently it’s in bloom, with very little flowers on it. The leaves are out also and they’re very scrappy to say the least. Some branches have no leaves but I guess it’s too early to say whether this will improve.

What can I do to improve the health of this tree? Any idea on what fertilizer/feed I might use? It’s positioned in a main focal point of the garden so I really don’t want to lose it.

Any ideas? Many thanks ðŸ™

macraignil

jomalone14 wrote: »

Hi all

I have a 10 year old Prunus Nigra tree in the garden which hasn’t been doing that well for the last couple of years. Currently it’s in bloom, with very little flowers on it. The leaves are out also and they’re very scrappy to say the least. Some branches have no leaves but I guess it’s too early to say whether this will improve.

What can I do to improve the health of this tree? Any idea on what fertilizer/feed I might use? It’s positioned in a main focal point of the garden so I really don’t want to lose it.

Any ideas? Many thanks ðŸ™

As with other cherry and stone fruit trees the general advice is to avoid pruning in the winter months. I have a diseased autumn flowering cherry myself and a couple of years ago trimmed off all visibly diseased parts once the weather had got reasonably dry. It grew back with less diseased material and although still not a perfect image of good health it looks well at times now.

jomalone14

So, no pruning of branches until late spring/early summer? Any ideas on whether I should feed/fertilize it? If so, what with?

macraignil

jomalone14 wrote: »

So, no pruning of branches until late spring/early summer? Any ideas on whether I should feed/fertilize it? If so, what with?

I've read before that the faster growing material produced when plants are given a lot of fertiliser is more prone to disease attack so I would be inclined to not feed the cherry tree.



I normally throw in a few barrow loads of used horse bedding around the trees and shrubs in my garden as a mulch that will slowly break down and improve the soil over the long term as it is a bit shallow and stony in places. There are some shrubs that benefit from this more than others like the roses and hydrangeas so they get most of this material. I used some of this material around a zelkova tree that was a bit wind damaged and had started to show some roots exposed at the soil surface but this was more to protect the exposed roots than to give any particular fertiliser. Adding material like this does help a tree by suppressing competing undergrowth but it can't be put on directly in contact with the trunk as it may encourage suckering or other problems with the bark being buried to an unnatural level. Are there other plants that are showing signs of poor growth that might indicate a deficiency in your garden soil? I have not found cherry trees to be particularly nutrient hungry and the plum I planted the year before last is growing fine with no fertiliser and just the grass kept clear of the trunk.

jomalone14

macraignil wrote: »

I've read before that the faster growing material produced when plants are given a lot of fertiliser is more prone to disease attack so I would be inclined to not feed the cherry tree.



I normally throw in a few barrow loads of used horse bedding around the trees and shrubs in my garden as a mulch that will slowly break down and improve the soil over the long term as it is a bit shallow and stony in places. There are some shrubs that benefit from this more than others like the roses and hydrangeas so they get most of this material. I used some of this material around a zelkova tree that was a bit wind damaged and had started to show some roots exposed at the soil surface but this was more to protect the exposed roots than to give any particular fertiliser. Adding material like this does help a tree by suppressing competing undergrowth but it can't be put on directly in contact with the trunk as it may encourage suckering or other problems with the bark being buried to an unnatural level. Are there other plants that are showing signs of poor growth that might indicate a deficiency in your garden soil? I have not found cherry trees to be particularly nutrient hungry and the plum I planted the year before last is growing fine with no fertiliser and just the grass kept clear of the trunk.

I have a few hostas planted around the base of the tree which have been thriving the last few years so the soil must be good. It's puzzling to say the least.
It's hard to stand back and do nothing as I don't want to lose it. I think I'll wait for another couple of months to see what branches are carrying leaves and prune out the ones that have nothing. That should help, I hope.

macraignil

jomalone14 wrote: »

I have a few hostas planted around the base of the tree which have been thriving the last few years so the soil must be good. It's puzzling to say the least.
It's hard to stand back and do nothing as I don't want to lose it. I think I'll wait for another couple of months to see what branches are carrying leaves and prune out the ones that have nothing. That should help, I hope.

Not sure why your tree would have developed a disease but have planted a good few trees over the years and sometimes it just happens. As mentioned I have one cherry that seems to have to some extent grown out of its disease problem. Just do your best to remove the diseased parts when the weather is at its driest as many plant diseases are spread by spores which will survive and spread more easily in damp or humid conditions. I have read as well that it is important to sterilise the tools used as well as these can carry some diseases to the next tree they might be used on.



My neighbor has some cherry trees that are not thriving but still look very well as he has managed to get some Virginia creeper to climb up them and the display of red leaves in the autumn is spectacular. I have tried to copy this on a healthy cherry in my own garden and it is taking a while to get the Virginia creeper to get to sufficient size but this might be an option if your tree continues to look unhealthy.

jomalone14

Macraignil

I'll prune with clean tools in a couple of months. Thanks again for your advice.