Is this tree (Carmine Jewel Dwarf Cherry) sick?

Take a branch and bend it 90 degrees. If it breaks, it is possibly dead. Lower limbs will, or can replace upper ones that have died.

chandler48 said:

Take a branch and bend it 90 degrees. If it breaks, it is possibly dead. Lower limbs will, or can replace upper ones that have died.

Click to expand...

I tried to bend some branches (upper and lower) slightly more than 90 degrees, none of them breaks. It had leaves last year, planted from little small tree, growing taller every year. Don't remember the height at the end of 2019.

Which month will it grow leave? It is the end of April (DC). I guess I have it for only 2 or 3 years, did not pay attention. But most other trees grow new leaves now.

Ayuh,..... Are there buds on the branches,..??

Bondo said:

Ayuh,..... Are there buds on the branches,..??

Click to expand...

No, I took a very close look at it, it looks almost same as during winter season. But it did come out some small new branches with new green leaves, way at the bottom, around 5 inches off ground, I took out all of them.

Cut a branch in half and see if it's green inside. You may be taking off the only living part of the tree. Is it a hybrid?


https://orchardpeople.com/dwarf-cherry-tree-cherry-shrub/


"Rick’s advice on the care of sour cherries: “Grow them as a shrub with multiple stems rather than in tree form.” Bob concurs and adds: “Keep the soil around cherries weed-free.”


https://fruitgrowersnews.com/news/s...eders-receive-prestigious-horticulture-award/

We have 4 cherry trees. Most beautiful blooms and large cherries. That is one day. The next day the birds have eaten almost all of them. Trees are too big to net.

@VAer, some pictures?

Also nick the bark with fingernail or whatever. If it's green under the bark there might still be hope.

DoomsDave said:

@VAer, some pictures?

Also nick the bark with fingernail or whatever. If it's green under the bark there might still be hope.

Click to expand...

I have just added some photos in Google Drive folder. Not good at taking photos, when moving phone camera too close, it becomes unclear.

I see buds on the limbs. Leave it be. It'll bud out and leave and produce.

chandler48 said:

I see buds on the limbs. Leave it be. It'll bud out and leave and produce.

Click to expand...

Thanks. Sorry that I did not provide correct answer to Bondo's post. I thought there is no buds.

@VAer, did you try the fingernail test? Scratch the bark; if it's green underneath, it's still alive. If the end of a branch has died, repeat the test further down. Sometimes plants seem to rise from the dead.

That said, things don't look promising based on your pictures, but I'm happy to eat crow.

Often a sick tree shoots out suckers near its base in a last effort to stay alive. It could be what is happening with yours.

@VAer, @Old Thomas has a point.

Is your tree grafted? If the grafted portion has died, but the rootstock lives you won't get your desired cherries.

It's easy to tell: look for the "bud union" on the trunk; in plants up north, it's often below the soil level. It will be an obvious bulge, sometimes with an equally obvious change in bark texture, coloration or both.

It is June tomorrow, still not a single leave this year.

Not sure if it is live or dead. If dead, why? Not enough mulch during winter?