Weeping Cherry is losing leaves

15 years ago

I planted a weeping cherry on the edge of my flower garden in May. Several of it's leaves started turning brown pretty much right away. There are a few branches that are completely barren of leaves now, tho most still have green healthy looking leaves on them. I have no idea what is going wrong. The branches that have lost their leaves are still flexible and green. Please help!

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elakin1668_aol_com

12 years ago

My weeping cherry tree is losing its leaves. It was beautiful in the spring..now the leaves have holes in them and they are falling fast....Please help.

Comments (13)

yarddoctor
15 years ago
Dear Evan SC,

Thank you very much for your inquiry. The Garden Nurse, Susan Gruber, has provided the information below.

You describe classic symptoms of transplant shock. It is very common for plants to show some leaf drop and browning soon after planting. Most trees recover well - and although it may look a little rough for the rest of this season, chances are it will be just fine. If many more leaves turn brown and fall off, it may be worth calling the nursery where you purchased the plant and inquire about their return/replacement policy. Keep your receipt and document the appearance of the tree with some photos.
Here are some tips to help the tree establish:
Water the tree roots and the soil around the planting hole weekly unless there has been a soaking rain. More frequent watering can reduce root growth.
Place 3-4" of bark mulch over the root system, beginning an inch away from the trunk and extending 6" past the edge of the planting hole. Mulch is one of the best ways to provide the roots with the best growing conditions.
Do not fertilize until next spring.
Wait to prune off any leafless branches until next spring, then trim off any dead wood as soon as you see new leaves beginning to grow.

Again, thanks for the question and let me know if you have more.

Respectfully

Trey Rogers, The Briggs & Stratton Yard Doctor, YardDoctor.com
capriola_comcast_net
15 years ago
I have a 19 yr old weeping cherry tree with the same problem. Mostly all of the leaves have turned brown or have fallen off. Should I wait until next Spring to see if it comes back or just take it down now?
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Dan, I've seen enough of this disease to diagnose it at a glance - the brown and dried-up, persistent flowers and lack of foliage are extremely characteristic. Like I said, it is endemic to flowering cherries in my area, especially after the soaking wet spring we've had. And yes, you do need to prune back to the viable, healthy leaf growth towards the top of the branches. Now you can understand why I said your little tree will probably never look good - most weeping cherries around here look like someone took a hedge trimmer to the weeping branches all the way around the tree, just to keep this disease in check and to remove the unsightly dead-looking branch tips. By the time one is done with this, there's not much 'weeping' about the tree any longer. I could show you a half dozen just like this in my neighborhood alone and it's not bad pruning - just sick trees :-) I would never, ever recommend planting a weeping cherry in the PNW regardless of how great a bargain it may be or how pretty it looks in bloom at the nursery. It is usually just a waste of money. And I am very cautious about recommending any other type of flowering cherry - these trees have so many issues associated with them in our climate, WSU has published an entire booklet (not a brochure, a multi-page booklet) on problems of ornamental cherries.
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being down under.. and it being fall .. and presuming its deciduous ... then i am never really concerned about how the leave look .. this time of year ... they are going to fall off.. and be gone ... in case anything was going on.. clean them all up.. so they wont be there in spring .. just in case ... i would have bought a fall plant with those leaves... ESPECIALLY if it was a fall bargain plant ... if you read that link ... you should know.. fall is one of the prime planting times ... especially on a deciduous tree ... since the various shocks.. will not really hurt leaves that are already primed to fall off ... all the better if they do.. fall is root growing time... and it will have all fall.. winter.. and early spring.. to get those roots settled in.. for the next time the leaves emerge .... NEVER water the leaves of anything.. that is ONLY ma natures job.. otherwise ... you water the roots ... leaves transpire or sweat .. lose water .. though they may take in some minimal water... its not really their job ... and if you water in the evening.. and the leaves go into humid darkness damp .. you could get in trouble with various night pathogens.. the most famous of which is powdery mildews ... since you suspect improper planting... as compared to the link ... and basically just yanked it from the pot ... at a min .. now that it has no leaves.. yank it back out... fluff out at least about half the MEDIA ... cut any severe circling roots ... and replant it in native soil.. per the link ... water it in properly .. and mulch it ... and then.. inserting finger about 2 or 3 inches ... dont water again. until the soil seems to be drying ... which.. in fall. might be weeks or a month from know ... no one can really tell you how it will all work.. in your soil ... and you are responsible for all water next year ... especially in the high heat of summer.. and any droughts ... the year after ... it should be rather self sufficient ... ken
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because yellowing of leaves is usually a bad sign at this time of the year ==>>> not really ... its natures way as the plant shuts down for fall ... weather of course can complicate how early that happens ... and i am presuming we are talking about deciduous trees ... regardless ... there isnt much you should be doing in fall .. surely not adding any ferts, as the tree starts slowing down ... maybe some water .. i guess i dont understand your premise.. of what exactly you think you should be doing if the leaves turn color???? ken
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dave_giordano_ge_com
15 years ago
I have a 5 year old weeping cherry that lost all its leaves in the last 2 weeks -- any chance it will come back ? Some of the bark has turned black also.
donnannny_aol_com
14 years ago
i planeted my weeping cherry last year the leaves came out this spring but some of the leaves have turned brown and falling off we have had a lot of rain can this be the cause of the leaves turning brown
stroian17_aol_com
14 years ago
I have a 6 year old weeping cherry tree, that has lost all of it's leaves over the last month. It was beautiful this past Spring when it was in full bloom. But we have received a record amount of rain fall this summer, I live in NH. I do have 2 other weeping cherries and they look great. Do you think it will come back next year? Should I feed it, if so what do you recommend? Thanks, Michelle
mbellc_netscape_net
13 years ago
I have a weeping cherry tree that is about 3 years old. this spring it bloomed looked great; about 4 weeks ago the leaves started falling off. also new growth is growing from the bottom of the tree. is this normal or is something wrong.
glory7191_yahoo_com
13 years ago
OUR WEEPING CHERRY TREE IS 8 YEARS OLD. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN LUSH AND BEAUTIFUL, BUT THE SPRING IT HAS NO LEAVES. IT HAS JUST A FEW GREEN AREAS. COULD YOU PLEASE HELP ME FIND OUT WHAT WRONG WITH IT. IT IS NOT DEAD. THANK YOU
mel_dees_frontiernet_net
13 years ago
I planted a weeping cherry last spring. This spring it bloomed then formed new leaves.
After about 1 week the leaves are now dead. Is my tree dying? Is there anything I can do? The branches are still green and the tree is not yet dead, Should I prune the tree? Can you help?
tasliyar_aol_com
12 years ago
I live in Staten Island, NY. We bought a weeping cherry about 8 years ago. Every year I cut off more dead branches, but haven't seen any new growth. It blooms every year and is covered with green leaves, but some of the tips are dead and need to be pruned again. We have a lot of red clay soil, we had amended a portion of the yard with top soil and peat moss. My husband says the tree looks nothing like a weeping tree anymore, all the branches have been trimmed so it seems to have just a crown of leaves. What can I do to encourage more new growth?
bren13_optonline_net
12 years ago
Hello,

About four weeks ago we had to transplant a four year old weeping cherry tree in Northern NJ because of location. We used a transplant fertilizer (Mike's) as recommended by the garden center and ammended the soil as well. We had the new hole ready to go before digging out the tree. One piece of root though did break in the transplant process. Now our leaves are getting wilted and showing the same symptoms as mentioned here. Do you think the breaking of the root is the problem or do you think it is just transplant shock?
Joyce Dawson
last year
I too have a 4 year old weeping cherry that has already lost it's leaves. It was well established so its not transplant shock. I live in South Alabama so it's definitely not cool enough for it to be dropping leaves yet. We've not had a drought this year. I fed it at the beginning of spring like I have four the previous years. I seem to see a lot of folks having the same issue this year. What's going on ?
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
"I seem to see a lot of folks having the same issue this year."

Are you basing that on comments from this 14 y.o. thread or are you seeing this on weeping cherries in your neighborhood now?

As one of the most disease and insect prone of any garden ornamental trees, there could be a whole host of reasons why a weeping cherry looks bad at tis time of year. But we would need to see photos to narrow it down.

Weeping Cherry is losing leaves

elakin1668_aol_com

Comments (13)

yarddoctor

capriola_comcast_net

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