I bought a weeping cherry from Lowe's today. It was 50% off. Their trees are wrapped at the base of the trunk with paper identifying the special feature of that tree. So I go and unwrap it at home and this is what I found. What does it mean and do I run it back to Lowe's for a refund? Thanks.
It's a take back. This is either borer damage or gummosis. Gummosis is also called Cytospora canker, a condition that affects stone fruit trees. It's a fungal infection. If it was on a branch you could prune out the branch. Lime sulpher spray is sometimes effective. Is there any evidence of sawdust? Sawdust would indicate borer damage. Either way - it's trouble and I'd take it back. No point in starting out with a damaged tree. I have a Prunus subhirtella 'Pendula' often called Weeping Higan Cherry. They are a beautiful tree. I hope you find a healthy one.
Hopefully they'll take it back--some places if a plant is already reduced that means the sale is final and you can't return it. I've never paid close enough attention to Lowe's policies to know if that's the case for them or not.
I just returned it, no problem. Snapple as soon as I read your post I immediately took the tree back. We have several peach trees on our property. I certainly wouldn't want bring home something and infect any other trees. There were 3 altogether and I chose the larger of the 3. So I raced back hoping the other 2 were still there. I'm only 4 miles away. No such luck, they were gone. Dang! I've been wanting a weeping cherry for a while now, and at half price I was thinking "Score". Guess I just have to keep shopping. BTW I would like to see a picture of your Cherry tree.
If it makes you feel better, it wouldn't surprise me if there wasn't something wrong with the other two as well. I just hope they throw your plant away rather than trying to sell it to someone else!
I hadn't thought about that, so yes that does make me feel a tad bit better. I'm just going to have to find one from a local nursery, bite the bullet and pay full price. I'm still bummed. Mostly so because I'm the one cutting the crabapple trees down and I was thinking this would help as a replacement. I did buy a couple of Cleveland flowering pear trees, just because. They are supposedly hardier than the Bradford pears that are common around here. The Bradfords really suffer during the ice storms that we experience. I tore the paper off those and they looked fine. I am half tempted to go back to Lowe's and see if the tree is back up for sale. That would be horrible. I would hope that wouldn't happen especially here in Mooresville, NC. Lowe's moved their corporate headquarters here a couple of years ago. The store that I bought the tree from is their brand new pilot store. Massive, the aisles and parking lot are huge.
Local nurseries sometimes have sales too, most of the ones around here do and you just have to keep your eyes open because it's always something different that's on sale. I don't know if your area is cold enough that nurseries close down for the winter or not, but if they do then right before they close for the year might be a good time to catch some bargains too. Or if you don't mind starting with a smaller tree, there are always mail order places where you might be able to get something cheaper, although it'll also be pretty small.
Here's the cherry just in bloom.
Just leafing out. Keep looking out for a healthy one. You won't regret it.
This message was edited Jul 4, 2008 11:32 AM
I think a lot of the nurseries either close or are on reduced hours. I'm thinking of one in particular that always has a nice selection. Or so it seems when I drive by, I've only ever stopped there once and it was many years ago. Because we live on an old established "farm" I've never gone tree shopping. Because we are cutting the crabapples down, I felt like it was my duty to replant something. Isn't it said for every tree you cut down you need to replant 2 to make up for it. We have friends coming over tonight for the 4th. They requested that we wait to cut them down until after they visit. They want one last who-haw under the canopy of the tree limbs.
Beautiful tree snap! That's what I'm looking for. The one I bought was in a 15 gallon pot so it was large to start. I will keep looking.
I hadn't really thought about it when I responded before, but you can also look at it as an investment--a tree isn't like a perennial that you can easily rip out and replace if it dies or something, it'll last many more years and is such an important part of the landscape, so you could make a case for saving up and spending a larger amount of money so you make sure you're getting a good one. I don't know that the Lowe's sale rack is the right place to look for something like that, probably better off to get a good one even if you spend a little more (but the sale rack is a great place to pick up some "distressed" perennials that just need a little TLC!)
ecrane3 has a good point. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and make the expenditure. But, I get a lot of Japanese Maples at our local nursery's 75% off fall clearance too. I start watching almost daily in late September. Some JM's are really weary of sitting in the nursery in a hot black pot, some have had limb damage, some have lost their tags and are hard to identify. I take my pocket Vertrees JM book with me to make my selections. Then I spend about a year babying them. It takes research, persistance and work.
Have a good Fourth Y'all!
You dont necessarily have to buy a big tree.
Cherries are generally fast growing, so you can buy a smaller plant at a quality nursery and have a beautiful tree in no time.
