ther than keeping it well-watered, should I fertilize with a high N fertilizer, or just leave it alone? I dont want to kill it with kindness, but I really liked the tree. ==>>> you are on the verge of lovin it to death i dont care where you post.. but this isnt treated as a fruit tree.. and there is a tree forum ... let me clarify why nitro is not useful ... nitro stimulates green growth ... you lost your leaves.. because you cut off 99% of its roots ... using fert to stimulate green leaves.. will de-stimulate its need to GROW ROOTS ... make any sense ... all that.. plus IMHO.. trees NEVER need fertilizer ... other than actual FRUIT PRODUCTION trees .... but that aint you ... focus on what need be done.. grow ROOTS!.. and all the tree needs for root growth .. is water for that ... and if it thrived for 2 years.. i will not agree you have sterile soil ... so fert isnt needed ... and next time you want to move a tree .. do it in FULL DORMANCY .... rather than after bloom and leaf out ... it spent all its stored energy blooming and leafing.. and now it has no roots ... to process water ... if you perfect TIMING.. the whole process is much more forgivable ... good luck ken ps: NEVER fertilize a stressed tree.. and your is stressed from transplant ...

If you haven't been spraying those cherries at least every two weeks with pesticide, each one will have a little white worm inside by the pit. At least that's what happens here in Utah and many other places. I just harvested my first really good crop from my Lapins cherry trees, and they're wonderful! But because I only sprayed once about a month ago (it's been a very busy spring with a new baby in the family and a big vacation a few weeks ago!) about 10% of my cherries have worms. So, we're cutting most of them open before we eat them and discarding the wormy ones. But since nothing beats that great feeling of popping a whole cherry in your mouth and letting the juice squirt all over your tongue, I can't resist just eating some of them without checking! A little worm won't kill me, I suppose! But anyway, I'm not sure you really want a tree that's half Kwanzan and half wild cherry! I'd probably cut off the wild branches and buy a new cherry tree to plant somewhere else nearby. I do have a related question, though: I have four Kwanzans and one is nearly dead. From what I've observed in my garden, the ones getting less water are healthier. They're in an area with a gravel mulch and they only get water from a drip system. The one dying is in an area that is sprinkled with a groundcover around it. Is that your observation -- that these trees are sensitive to watering and like to be a little dry? Also, my dying one has suddenly shot out a bunch of suckers at the base -- so, should I be pretty certain it's on wild cherry rootstock? Would that look attractive as a shrubby, multi-trunked tree if I let these suckers grow and cut out the mostly dead Kwanzan from the middle of the clump?

I have not been officially trained on proper pruning though I do have a gardening book. Do you have a suggested site/link?

Kwanzans are used here as street and parking lot trees because their branches go up at such a high angle. They're also used as landscape trees in people's gardens for the same reason, their footprint is smaller than the wide spreading varieties. They don't look too close to the drive for me. That said, they're not one of my favorite cherry trees, too large and coarse for the average garden. In addition, some understock used is a sprouting nightmare and the only time they look good is when they're blooming, in my opinion. Mike