Last year I planted Semi Dwarf Van Cherry tree in my back yard. This year I have noticed that almost all the new leaves are curled and inside of the leaves, is a colonies of small black bugs. The size of the bugs is nearly as big as a pin head. They do not move much and are practically stick to the leaves. I consulted several business hear who deals in plants, trees, flowers and vegetables. I went to big one among them. I talked to the woman and she told me that I can't do any thing now and the tree should have been sprayed in spring before buds start appearing. She told me that it is a fungus. I believed her and convinced myself that I have to wait until the next spring. I told my wife since she is very passionate about this tree b/c it was gift to her on last year's mother day. She suggested that if it a fungus the why not to try vinegar (one used at home). I sprayed the bugs with vinegar. It was done on June 6/11. what it did, the leaves almost burned dry but these nasty bugs still are there on the new tiny leaves. Due to heavy rain the vinegar has washed off. I want your expert opinion. I have noticed very few lady bugs and never had an idea that they eat this black bugs.

I think your right Myk. I have a tart cherry planted in 2004, fruiting for the first time this year. The tree has a story. It was a seedling dug up and replanted here by my father-in-law in 2004. Around 2007, I decided a seedling probably wouldn't be very good fruit, so I decided to re-graft it. I cut it back to 1' high and put several chip grafts on it. The chip grafts that took started producing flowers! Now I know that cherries produce flowers on two year old wood, but am positive I did not graft two year old wood. I pulled the flowers off and let the rootstock grow out. This year it finally fruited from the rootstock. I was hoping the fruit would be worthless so I could cut the tree down and replace it with a peach. The tree gets mildew unless I spray it, so I was looking any excuse to get rid of it. Unfortunately, it looks like I may have to keep it. The birds are savaging it just as the cherries start to put on some blush. As you know, birds seem to go after the best tasting fruits, which wasn't a good sign, since I wanted any excuse to get rid of this tree. So I tasted one today that was just starting to put on blush. It was sweeter than the neighbor's Montmorency trees when they are at full red. How depressing. This tree is a pain in the rear to spray for mildew, I was so looking forward to getting rid of it. I had to net the thing, while in the meantime looking across the way to my neighbor's two Montmorencies loaded with red berries. These freakin' birds are too smart.

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?

root with you being a bit cooler, you'd probably do well with cherries! I have bush cherries- plain old non name in a tub, and 'joel' in the ground. I had 'jan' and 'joy' in ground, but they died couple years back. I'd be willing to try them again in a better draining spot. I also have 'Northstar', which is a sour dwarf tree, in a tub. I had 'compact stella' which is a sweet self pollinator that i got at broadwell's, so it was local, but it died last year after the wicked easter freeze. Undecided whether i want to try again with it or not. It was pretty but we'd not gotten much off it. I also lost a pear to that freeze/subsequent bad run of fireblight. Before someone asks, the reason they're in tubs is at least 4 fold. 1. cherries like drainage and my clay just doesn't give much of it. 2. i wanted to keep them dwarfed. 3. it's my best sun by far, but very limited space, because is along the edge of the driveway that was a mutual turnaround before old butthead neighbors fenced, hence 4. portability -in case the fence ever comes down, which it probably won't, and we do move some of the more tender things to the basement for the winter. I have 10+ tubs in a row- alternating, half 18 gallon, half 32 gallon, with pears, cherries, figs, lotus, loganberries, loquat, contorted mulberry, trifoliate orange and a hip rose, plus one or 2 to use for tomatoes, etc. Most everything has done really well, with the exception of that one cherry and pear. Because the 6' fence is facing south it radiates warmth back to the plants and most seem to appreciate the protection. The big tubs mean the plants don't go thirsty as fast and get to a decent size, and are somewhat protected in winter from the cold. I tend to underplant everything with something else- i have strawberries in about 1/3 of the pots, as well as sedum, cerinthe, columbine, oregano, lithodora and hot tuna (chameleon plant). No use wasting that space.