New Spire Cherry Tree Not Happy

LondonNovice

We planted a Spire Cherry tree in our garden in March (I say we - a gardener did the actual planting as a very old dying pear had to be removed first). It’s seemed very happy and blossomed beautifully but it started to wilt in the very hot days so we gave it extra water. I now think we might have overwatered it as a number of the leaves have turned brown and there is sap coming out of the trunk in numerous places so it’s seems very stressed. We watered yesterday before we realised how unhappy it was looking and the soil is still a bit damp today. We have London clay soil. Could it be waterlogged or does the sap suggest some sort of insects or infection? Any help greatly appreciated as it’s such a lovely tree and I’m worried we’ve damaged it in trying to care for it!! I’ve ordered some pearlite which was suggested on another site as something that might help but I’m nervous about stressing it out even more by disturbing the soil. Thanks so much.

MikeOxgreen

It was a muppet that planted it, not a gardener.
You always plant trees in late Autumn and Winter.

Dovefromabove

Hello @LondonNovice  and welcome to the forum 😊 

It would help us to advise you if you could post some pictures of the tree and areas you’re worried about. 

Was it a bare root tree or in a pot?

😊 

LondonNovice

Thank so much your comment and welcome @Dovefromabove. I thought I’d edited to add pictures to the original post but clearly didn’t manage to do it correctly! I’ve added to this reply but can’t seem to post portrait images so they are rotated. Lots to learn about this forum it seems! 😂

LondonNovice

Oh and in a pot @Dovefromabove. It was planted very early March (was meant to be end of Feb but we edged a few days over).

Dovefromabove

There’s currently a glitch with posting pics on the site, but if you crop them just a tiny bit before posting they usually arrive the right way up. 😉 

For a start, providing all normal prep has been done, it’s perfectly fine to plant potted trees in March.
😊 

I can’t see much sap oozing. Some is normal particularly if small shoots were removed to provide a clear trunk before the tree was delivered to you. 

 

How much water has it been having? It’s quite a large tree with a lot of foliage … and not only have we had a prolonged dry spell but the wind has been causing a lot of transpiration from the leaves.  It’s also close to a fence which means it’s likely to be dry there because of the rain-shadow effect. 

 

I would give your tree three full buckets of water three times a week for the next three weeks, then reduce it to two twice a week  until the end of August and then two once a week until the end of September. 

It’s very hard to overwater a tree properly planted in open ground. 

If the planting site was properly prepared the fact that you’re on clay shouldn’t be a problem. There’s many fine orchards on clay. 😊  

Hope that helps … let us know how  it goes 😊 

LondonNovice

Thank you so much @Dovefromabove - that is incredibly helpful. It’s quite exposed to wind where it is so that would make sense re transpiration (new word for me!) We’ve been watering but not in those quantities so will up the amount and fingers crossed it revives 😊

LondonNovice

Hi @Dovefromabove! Just wanted to come back to say thank you so much for your advice. We’ve watered religiously sticking to your suggested amount. I just went out to water it and there are new leaves growing all over the tree!! I’m over the moon as I was so worried we’d lost it. Thank you again for taking the time to reply.

Dovefromabove

Hurrah!  I’m so pleased for you.   

In early March I would start watering again … two buckets twice a week … increasing a bit in hot weather or prolonged dry spells. 

Make sure you keep an good area around the tree free from grass etc and you can mulch that area with good compost which will help the structure of the soil. 

I’d feed in March with some Fish, Blood & Bone as directed on the pack. 

😊