We planted a Weeping Cherry Tree this spring and it had done well all spring, summer and into this past week or so. Last week I noticed a few yellow leaves but wasn't too concerned because it seemed fine for the most part. Literally overnight it turned brown. The leaves are now brown with a little green on them and I can't figure out what happened. We haven't had a significant change in rainfall. The weather if anything cooled off slightly (high 80s instead of 90s and above this summer). I checked it and the branches are still green and supple where the leaves are. Could this be simply an early fall drop of leaves or something more permanent? I have no idea what to do. We live in South Carolina near Charlotte. It has been a very hot and humid summer here, but the rainfall has been pretty normal. When it was dryer we ran our irrigation system, but recently haven't needed to because we have had rain although not torrents of it.
Any thoughts?
Weeping Cherry Tree
Can you post some pictures? Also take a look at the trunk--are there any signs of damage anywhere (deer peeled bark off, someone whacked it with the weedwhacker, borer holes, etc)? If you find anything suspicious post a picture of that too. And if you could also post a picture of the base of the tree where it goes into the soil that would help--sometimes trees are planted too deeply and that can cause problems too. You should be able to see the beginnings of the flare where the trunk spreads out to go into the roots--if the trunk is totally straight going into the ground then it could be planted too deep.
Here are some pictures:
Some sap I see seeping on the trunk
...the base of the tree
last one.... close up of the leaves:
Unfortunately our nursery has been seeing a lot of that this year. The problem starts as "shothole" damage on the foliage and sometimes remains a foliage problem for several years before moving down into the trunk and causing canker. Even though the following article is from England, it describes the same problem we're having here in the states: http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=86 Unfortunately, it's really hard to fix this problem once it has started. The best solution we've been able to find is to spray the tree with a product called Serenade. It's actually a bacteria (Bacillus subtilis) that destroys the pathogens that cause cankers. It seems to work like a charm but only if the infection isn't that bad. I say, it's worth a shot if it might save your tree. http://www.serenadegarden.com/
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