Cherry Trees - Yellow Leaves

13 years ago

Hello, I am new to the tree and gardening seen. My wife and I moved into our first house two years ago. We have a decent sized back yard that gets lots of sun. The yard however had no trees. I decided this Spring to plant some trees, which I did. Of the five trees I planted three were Okame Cherry Trees. The trees are young, only 4 to 5 feet tall. I have never planted a tree until now. I surprisingly enjoyed planting them and love to walk around the yard to see how they're doing.

The trees were doing fine until today when I came home and found yellow brittle leaves on two of the trees. Some of the green leaves have black tips on them. I did recently spray them with an insecticide, because I found a couple Japanese Beatles on them. (The brand was Bayer if that helps.) Not sure if that makes a difference.

I did some research before buying/planting. I dug a hole twice as big as the root ball, scraped the walls of the sides of the hole, and did not go deeper then the root ball. I did use peet moss and some granulated fertilizer on the surface of the dirt. Then covered with mulch, trying not to get to close to the trunk. I try to keep them watered but we have had a bit of rain recently. So I have been letting Mother Nature water them for me. The trees are about 25 feet apart, and are on the high part of my yard. They get plenty of sun.

If there is anything I can do to help them or if you need anymore information please let me know. I appreciate any responses. Sorry for the lengthy post. I have included some pictures below.

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Comments (7)

IanW Zone 5 Ont. Can.
13 years ago
It is normal for a newly planted tree to shed some leaves while it becomes established......but I will caution you about relying on mother nature and the water this tree needs.......The tree is living from its root ball at the moment and if that drys out, the leaves will fold and scorch....rain from the sky may not be enough moisture for the tree......In other words, I would be hand watering this tree through the summer.....

Ian
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
13 years ago
Maybe it is reacting to the harmful staking job?

Dan
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Probably transplanting shock. Once it's adjusted to the new pot, it should be OK. Don't overwater it. On another thread, the discussion is about heading back a peach tree that is actively growing to lower its height. When you remove all those branches hoping to shorten the height; for peach tree, it may or may not sprout new lower branches. If it does not, the tree will die. I think you confuse pruning (heading back) at planting (when you plant a whip or a bare root tree) and pruning when a tree is actively growiing (summer pruning). There is also dormant pruning of established trees. It's done to remove dead, deceased branches, to shape a tree and to stimulate vigorous growth. Summer pruning is often done to take off branches to allowing more light to penetrate a tree, encouraging fruitbud setting for next year, etc. I hope I don't confuse you even more.
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Me, I would take it back, due to the extent of the damage, and how the tree looks. If they offer a guarantee until Nov., then they should honor it now. They get paid to baby plants, and you should be able to buy a healthy specimen. It IS possible that it got missed a time or two as who-ever was watering at the nursery ran down the rows of plants with the hose, and it got damaged that way. From the photos, it does look like it missed a few waterings. It should come back from it, but it may take a while and it may not be too attractive for a year or so. Just check over your next tree very carefully before you buy it and take it home, and look after it well once you get it there - if you think it's dry from the nursery, water it, and if it's pretty wet, leave it until it's dry. Plant it ASAP (dig the hole before you go to the nursery) and mulch it well - no deeper than 4", as wide as possible, at least 3', and no mulch in the 2-3" next to the trunk. Water it abour every other day for the first week or two, then taper off to once a week or so, as the roots begin to grow out of the root ball into the surrounding soil - a long, slow watering, so the ground gets soaked to the bottom of the root ball. Check if it needs watering by checking the first few inches of soil - if it's dry, water, and if it's still damp, wait another day or 2. You want to give it the equivalent of an inch of rain per week, so adjust your watering according to how much rain you get.
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Cherry trees like sunshine, it just can be hard for them to deal with it all at first. Just make a temporary cover to filter out some of the sun. It only has to be there for a few months to a year. You can even take it out again next year too if it gets too hot in the summer. If you had not already planted it, I might have recommended putting it in a large planter and putting it on the East side of your house, or somewhere where it would not get too much sun in the middle of day. Then once it grew a little bit and became more established you could plant it in a sunny spot. But if you have already planted it, pulling a tree out of the ground usually does more harm than good. The root system is actually very delicate, and it can put the tree into shock, the last thing it needs right now. Really, the first 8 weeks after planting can be the most difficult, because the roots have not had time to spread into the surrounding soil. No matter how much water you give it, the roots are still going to have trouble supplying all the needed water to make up for evaporative losses in the leaves. The leaves curling up is the plant's natural way of trying to reduce sun exposure when it is feeling water strain. Congratulations on choosing to plant a cherry tree. Not that many people in California have a cherry tree growing in their yard. It is more popular in Northern States like Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, and Michigan. A lot of times if a plant does not grow "effortlessly" in a climate zone, most people do not bother planting it, even though it could do just fine with just a little proper care.
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I'm in Southern California and have noticed this too. I suspect cherry trees are not the best adapted to the climate here, with the hot summers and intense sun. You don't water enough and the leaves get dried out and some of them turn yellow and fall off, you water too much and leaves turn yellow and fall off. With the hot sun and high temperatures there's simply no way to provide enough water without giving more water than the tree can handle. Natalie, it's very likely the soil is a factor. Does the soil under the cherry tree that's not doing well look a little different than the soil under the other cherry trees that are growing well? Soil is important because of water retention. Some soils hold moisture better than other soils, while some clay rich soils may have poor drainage. Or it could be that one cherry tree is planted in a part of the yard that experiences higher temperatures.
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gardener365
13 years ago
Get used to it with all fruit trees. You're going to have yellow leaves and leaf drop for the remainder of their lives.

That staking job is terrible. I doubt it even needs staking as it's large enough of a tree.

Dax
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years ago
here you go ....

snip off all the stuff below the rope ....

then get rid of the stakes ... trees are supposed to blow in the wind.. and those arent big enough to worry about ..

then kill all the grass in a 3 foot circle ...

then dig down with a hand trowel.. and see if the soil in the root zone is actually moist ....

then add 2 to 3 inches of mulch ....

and then.. quit trying to kill these plants with too much love...

if you sprayed during the heat of the day.. you may have hurt the leaves.. if not just the chems themselves ...

otherwise.. as noted .... your recent transplants may not have the root mass to support all the canopy ... so they shed some leaves [which is why dont mind snipping off all those low small branchlets] .. i would start to worry if 80% of the leaves were browning ... if you are worrying about the 2 leaves shown in the pic.. see above about loving it to death ....

my guess.. without the benefit of the hand trowel in your yard .. is that they are not getting enough water down in the root zone .. now that the real heat of summer has hit ....

PROPER WATERING IS ALL THEY SHOULD NEED for 2 years .. no food.. no fert.. no chems.. and no college fund.. they are trees.. not children.. lol ...

proper watering involves deep infrequent water that goes deep into the root zone.. and proper mulch.. and then not watering again.. until the soil under the mulch is either dry or hot.. hot damp soil will be dry in a day or two.. and the mulch is meant to cool the soil, among other things. ....

good luck

ken

PS: BTW.. i have 60 foot serrotina.. furniture cherry ... and they shed leaves all season long.. just like yours... go figure .... its the nature of the beast on some level ....
kingme77
Original Author
13 years ago
So the trees are in no danger of dieing? I have been watering them, but just recently we have been getting a lot of rain and I wasn't sure if I would be over watering. Its hard to tell (for me anyways) if the tree is getting to much or to little water.

And as far as the staking job please let me know what I did wrong so I can fix it. You guys are freaking me out now. I want the trees to have the best and healthiest chance possible. As I said I have never done this before. The guy from the nursery said those stakes would be fine, but I am not opposed to changing it. I was told to leave enough room for the tree to sway so as they dont rely on the stakes. And if they dont need the stakes let me know and I'll remove them. I am on a higher area and we do get some serious wind sometimes.

Thanks to all that have responded, it is really appreciated.
kingme77
Original Author
13 years ago
Ken,
thank you for that message. I will try to loosen my grip. I guess they're not as fragile as I thought. I will follow your instructions when I get home from work. Oh, and I made sure to spray in the evening.

Thanks for all the responses, if anything you have set me at ease.
I will try to stop "killing them with to much love".... great line.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years ago
super...

last pic.. soil looks pretty dry at the surface.. gently dig in there.. and find out how dry it is down where the roots are ...

when you start to get concerned.. focus only at the growth tips... if they look good .. great... if they start drooping.. then there might be a problem ...

ken

Cherry Trees - Yellow Leaves

Comments (7)

IanW Zone 5 Ont. Can.

Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)

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Cherry Trees - Yellow Leaves

Comments (7)

IanW Zone 5 Ont. Can.

Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)

Related Discussions

gardener365

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

kingme77Original Author

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