Serviceberry Tree doing badly; black walnut to blame?

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olivesgarden Baltimore, MD May 27, 2008

Hi; I have a serviceberry tree (Amelanchier canadensis I think) that is being sort of strange. I have had it for three years, and this spring it flowered as usual and now has small berries developing. However, the leaves are tiny... they are only about a 1/2" long and don't seem to be getting any bigger. I thought they would eventually get bigger as spring went on, but they have remained small. Has anyone ever seen this? The only culprit I can think of is that my neighbors on the other side of the fence (about ten feet away from it) have a black walnut tree. Are serviceberries susceptible to juglone from the black walnut tree? Should I buy tree food spikes and try to fertilize the tree? It just doesn't seem to be doing well, and it had been doing OK up until this year. Am I just impatient?

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Resin Northumberland, United Kingdom(Zone 9a) May 27, 2008

Not sure if it is sensitive to juglone or not, but whatever, don't use those silly "tree food spikes" - they're just a scam.

Resin

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) May 27, 2008

This site mentions them as something that can grow under walnuts http://www.for-wild.org/archive/2002/0601.html I don't know anything about how reliable that site is, but they're quoting from a tree & shrub guide published by the Morton Arboretum so I suspect it's probably accurate.

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olivesgarden Baltimore, MD May 27, 2008

Thanks; I just don't understand why the leaves are so tiny. There are no pests that I can see, and it's hardly a drought issue, we have had the wettest May on record here.

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