clay is usually nutrient rich ... and is often sought after by professional growers .. so they can dig ball and burlap plants ...

i would not make assumptions so easily .... and i would like to know your neighbors base soil education level ... maybe he knows.. maybe he doesnt ... but you and i seem to be polar opposite of his opinion ...

i would start with a basic professional soil test ... if you were in the states.. i would refer you to your county Ag or extension office... i dont know the equivalent in canada ...

when was your tree planted .. how big is is.. what did you throw in the planting hole .... does you soil perk [second link below] ... can you post some pix ... what the weather been since winter ... and .. what kind of cherry ... fruit or furniture???

refer to the first link for general primer ...

if this is a recent planting.. there are a million things i would consider.. before i would be thinking soil deficiency .... in tree time.. things just dont happen that fast ...

ken

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

perk

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=perk+garden+soil&t=ffcm&ia=web

My first thought is that the tree may be too wet also - poke around in the dirt and visually inspect the soil moisture. Including inside the original field or potting soil, if that is how it came from the retailer (instead of bare-rooted).

@Ken Thank you Ken for the links and input. I’m not sure of his base knowledge on soil and he has only evergreens in his garden whereas I wanted to plant cold hardy deciduous. we are in zone 3. Last year the frost set in early, so I figured I’d start the planting earlier this year. I planted it mid July so I’d say it’s about less than month. It’s bare root potted tree wasn’t burlapped or anything. It was planted right away meaning didn’t stay in it’s pot for too long. I will say this though, we had pretty good hot days after the planting and I made sure I watered it daily. As for the mix, I threw in some good mix of soil and peat moss into the planting hole and made sure the root ball was on level with the ground too. I didn’t add any fertilizer figured it’d be too much for them to handle soon into the ground. We had record breaking temp yesterday so it’s all looking shrivelled up now. It will perk with watering and as you can see the lower older leaves are turning yellow. Also, if it’s too hot do you think I should remove the mulch around the base?. Thanks

@huggorm it’s not too wet. The stick I use determine the wetness showed about three inches wet. You’re right though, someone in this forum did mention about planting the Cherry a bit on the high ground so it doesn’t smothered with water during rain. Is clay acidic or alkaline?. I’d like to get ours tested soon.

. I planted it mid July so I’d say it’s about less than month.

==>>> i hope you read section one in my first link .... it should have been planted as soon as the ground thawed in spring .. dormant ... of course you didnt have it then ... or in fall again ... dormant ....without leaves to support ...

you planted in the heat of summer [whatever that means in z3 ...lol ].. and now wonder why its having trouble maintaining its leaves ... it STRESSED ... and im probably with the others.. a watering issue ...

with the caveat ... that i am no z3 expert ... and maybe you can get away with mid summer planting ... i dont suppose its been above 90F ... 32+ C .... for the last 6 weeks plus drought.. like its been in my MI backyard ....

frankly.. i didnt know fruit cherry were z3 viable .. go figure on that ....

the usual problem with BAD clay ... is lack of drainage.. throwing water retaining peat into a low draining hole.. is counter indicated .... but as i suggested.. not all clay is bad clay.. hence the perk test ...

personally ... i NEVER fert a stressed plant.. and i NEVER fert trees .. but if i had a soil test.. i might amend the soil to take care of a deficiency ... but that amendment would not be fert ...see the difference ....

below is a pic of a wood cherry ... prunus serotina.. that i moved in april ... note timing.. and the lack of leaves ...

do NOT dig up your tree and replant it.. for the reasons your neighbor suggested ...

i would suggest you take a hand trowel ... and dig three to 6 inch holes around the tree.. one in the original root mass ... and FIND OUT about soil moisture at root depth ... and either water more deeply.. or water less ...

i would also check proper planting depth .. by locating the root flare.. and then pop us a pic of that ... if too deep.. trunks are not supposed to be underground ....

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=root+flare&t=ffcm&iax=images&ia=images

ken

>We had record breaking temp yesterday so it’s all looking shriveled up now. It will perk with watering<

Your recently planted tree is not getting enough water. Until it roots out well it will not be much more independent than if it was still in the pot.

With any future plantings do not amend or replace planting hole back-fill as this frequently results in watering difficulties and retarded - or even failed - establishment due to how the movement of water into and out of the altered or completely different soil within the planting hole is affected.

Clay soils tend to be nutrient rich, but they also tend to hold onto those nutrients so they are not available to the plants growing in them. Soils in Alberta, Canada tend to be acidic, according to what I can find from AgCanada. AgCanada should be able to help you find a good soil testing service (they do not do that) which is the first place for you to start.
These simple soil tests should help you determine other important information about the soil you have such as how much organic matter is in the soil, how well the soil drains, etc.

1.Testing for organic
matter. Put about 1 cup soil (enough to fill the jar to 4 inches) in
a clear 1-quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and
replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24
hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight.
For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the
bottom. about 1 1) Soil test for organic material. From that soil sample put
enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level
inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about
1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1-foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that
with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and
time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your
soil drains’ too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage
down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of
organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful
of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is
released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a
finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your
soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant
odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria
will be and the nicer your soil will smell, to a point. Too much organic matter
can be bad as well.

5) Life. How many
earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5,
according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that
is not healthy.

I wanted a cherry tree so bad. I am in zone 5 with heavy clay. I stopped counting number of trees I lost. They just don't do well in heavy slow draining clay. I planted mulberries I can almost see them grow

I also planted a cherry in clay when I bought my house here in MO (5a). It didn't do well and died in less than 5 years. I didn't understand clay then and planted things too deep in bathtubs of amended soil. Later I planted high (soil mounded up a bit to cover the roots) with less amending and holes more like a dish than a cylinder.

Only other thing I can add to the above is, you could try some shade screen over that tree to cut down the roasting of the sun till it gets its roots under it.

No one mentioned fertilizer but I thought a weak solution of liquid fert now and then might help it get going. Note, clay holds on to P rather tightly so a balanced fert might be good for this. I had trouble with all my fruit trees not blooming the first couple years till I added bone meal and used some soluble root feeder cartridges balanced for fruit trees (higher P).

Use plenty of degradable mulches in the coming years to gradually and passively amend the soil under the entire dripline.

There's no point in less amending as the main purpose of amending is to change soil texture. Don't add enough to change the texture and nothing is accomplished, add enough to change the texture and what is accomplished is undesirable*.

The Myth of Beneficial Bone Meal:
"Add a handful of bone meal to planting holes before installing shrubs and trees”

https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/bonemeal.pdf

The Myth of Phosphate Fertilizer:
"Phosphate fertilizers will stimulate root growth of transplanted trees and shrubs"

https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/phosphate.pdf

*In the case of individual planting holes for trees, shrubs and other long term plants

I've only got one data point but my trees did not bloom until after a soil test showed very low available phosphate in the heavy silty clay, P was added, and they bloomed the next season. For what it's worth. It did seem to be cause and effect.

Thank you all. I’m going to do all the test that you guys recommended and read the links provided. Hopefully this thrives but like you all mentioned it is good to get the soil tested (Thank you Kimmq for pointing out Alberta soil is bit acidic) and before I go out do add more plants and problems. Hubby suspects that the landscaper used the wrong side of landscaping fabric and the water isn’t getting to roots properly. I’m going to pull the entire strip of fabric out and see if that’s the issue. I think it’s something more complicated than that like N deficiency and such. There’s no harm in trying..

Landscape fabric should pass water in both directions, no idea why it would not. It's just porous fabric, not a high-tech directional membrane of some sort.

Pretty much everyone around here hates landscape fabric BTW. Under wood mulch it won't do anything to prevent weeds, they can grow in the mulch on top of the fabric. Even with gravel, dirt will eventually begin to form and weeds will grow.

Update: I pulled the landscaping fabric from under the cherry tree.. it was sitting in a huge puddle of water and the last night rainwater was all under there and I couldn’t tell from top with all that charcoal mulch and fabric. It’s breathing now. Now idk if this contributes anything to the ongoing issue but I know that cherry tree is sitting low basically collecting all the runoffs. Guess I should plant it elsewhere?!. It’s already suffering quite a bit with all that damned clay..

thanks all

Slightly acidic soil is not bad, the 6.0 to 7.0 soil pH range most plants like best is slightly acidic. The only way to know where the soil pH is would be by having a soil test done.

Yes: pull your tree up immediately and plant it where it does not sit in a puddle, hope that it bounces back. Due to root death drowning plants have the same problem with not enough water getting to their tops as those where there isn't enough moisture in the soil.

If you have nowhere there that isn't a damp and heavy soil that puddles when water is abundant then you will probably have to make a berm or mound of purchased soil for this tree. Or give up on trying to grow drainage sensitive kinds like this on your site.

The only other option is to install a network of pipes that collect the excess water and move it away. To be able to do this you have to have access to a low area for the unwanted water to be directed into. Basically a retention pond, depending on how much water may be involved.

Prairie soil is indeed rich in nutrients, but only species that evolved in it have roots that can access those nutrients. Your neighbor is halfway correct. Heavy clay restricts nutrient uptake in species that are not adapted to it. As Embothrium pointed out, you do not want to make the soil in the planting hole more friable by amending it. The typical outcome is stunted growth, often culminating in fatal root girdle. If you really want to grow trees that aren't native to heavy clay, you could amend the soil out to the future drip line of the mature tree. Most gardeners decide against tackling such a daunting project and select species that do not require any amendments.

Roots are girdled by containers and not amended planting holes, failed plants pulled out of amended holes and found to have girdling roots had these when they were planted. Roots are geotropic, always grow away from the center of the plant unless deflected by solid barriers like plastic pot walls.

Organic amendments decompose and disappear so that even amending a large enough area still is not really applicable to the cultivation of long term plants, that are not going to be replaced annually. The ephemeral nature of organic amendments is particularly evident in hot climates. For instance in one Oklahoma study peat dug into a soil there had vanished one year later.

"Heavy clay restricts nutrient uptake in species that are not adapted to it. "

Please explain your reasoning or documentation that supports this contention. After many years of study and teaching classes on soils, I have never encountered any literature that supports that certain plants are not able to pull nutrients from a clay based soil. As long as the root system is able to spread and elongate, any plant can get what it needs, provided the nutrient concentration is there to begin with. Which it typically is with any sort of clay (high CEC). What does determine success is if the plant roots are able to move through the clay with relative ease (some are - some are not) and how much water the soil retains.