Photos will help quite a bit, as well as what type of cherry tree it is (latin name if you know it). Fruiting or ornamental cherries are different. Also, what type of sun does it get?

Could be as simple as japanese beetles and fireblight...both common issues with cherries. Or it could be much more serious.

First guess is shothole fungus, but hard to say with the information given, esp wrt the wilting, and identifying the environmental stressors and the likelihood it was planted incorrectly.

Dan

There's very little difference between ornamental and fruiting cherries as far as diseases are concerned, except that the fruiting types are also prone to those that affect the fruit. Based just on the description of the problem and the weather you've experienced recently, it sounds like the dieback may be bacterial blight/brown rot. Regular holes in the leaves of any Prunus species is most likely shothole fungus.

Take a sample into your local extension office for diagnosis and tips for proper treatment.

I'll try to get some photos up of the damage. I have no idea what type of cherry tree it is. It doesn't bear fruit for the most part, only a spare few cherries.

The tree sits in our small shady backyard in Boston. The backyard is hemmed in by the cascading shade from several houses and some tall pines, but it gets a decent amount of sun in the morning and early afternoon from the northeast.

We've lived in this house for over 2.5 years and the tree has had no serious issues over that time, certainly nothing like this.

The tree is fairly large and I imagine has been here for a while so I would be surprised if this was related to the original planting.

Just to get a bit more context. Here's a picture of the tree from a few years back in the fall. It at least shows the relative size and location, until more detailed photos with the damage can be posted.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tree

Here are some photos of the tree and leaf damage.

Here is a shot that shows the new growth that died.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/w6qd-Q90yFsEMJFnGolhXw?authkey=Gv1sRgCKq8-Mqyxr-AhgE&feat=directlink

Here is one leaf without holes but with some sort of discoloration.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/KZ2BbOvjR8Z8FgTHgbTeJA?authkey=Gv1sRgCKq8-Mqyxr-AhgE&feat=directlink

Here is a minor holed leaf.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/qktsc6QjoXh0yknZPlEYKA?authkey=Gv1sRgCKq8-Mqyxr-AhgE&feat=directlink

However, when all together you can see how bad it is.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/3t07gyPYzywSYy7CXlqL3g?authkey=Gv1sRgCKq8-Mqyxr-AhgE&feat=directlink

Finally, although it's always somewhat looked like this, the bark on the tree is torn off a bit.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/wWBpyzQA6xBY5wAoPE9F6Q?authkey=Gv1sRgCKq8-Mqyxr-AhgE&feat=directlink

i had a z4 winter in my otherwise z5 garden.. cherry dont do z4 very well

sever damage on my flowering cherry ....

what small weird leaves did pop out on the affected part ... slowly died before leafing fully out

did you have an abnormally cold winter???

what zone are you

ken

I'm in 6a or 6b. It was snowier than normal but I wouldn't say colder. The abnormality in the weather has been that it was the least sunniest June in over 100 years and it rained almost every day.

The tree had normal healthy new growth up until the first week of June or so and then that new growth shriveled up and died.

These pix don't do much for me. With the paucity of useful info, I'd say its old and suffering some environmental stressor that is allowing the shothole to be happy this year.

Surely on this board we are seeing all kinds of problems in the American NE with the rain and weather, and I'd expect more fungi damage as a result.

That's all I can tell with the given information.

Dan

Dan:

What additional information or pictures would be helpful or useful to you? I won't know unless you ask for it!

Unfortunately, I don't know the specific type of cherry tree it is, nor the age.