Badly Damaged Cherry Blossom Tree

John Vander

A construction company who worked on our school buildings set up their prefab office right next to this Cherry Blossom tree, lopping it to pieces in order to make space. As you can see, they screwed up terribly, leaving the tree in pain. Is there anything we can do to save it? Only a few small side branches appeared this season, but it looks like most of it is done for.

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Brent Ferris

There appear to be buds on the branches. Are these viable? or are the branches dried and brittle.
If the branches are supple, and the buds seems viable - I would try to remove the large volume of lichen on the trunk bark -- which is likely suffocating the tree - and then feed with liquid seaweed, and organic fertilizers. If the ground was compacted by foot and/or vehicular traffic, drill a series of holes to de-compact the ground. If the soil is substantially compacted, I would drill 1 - 1 1/4" holes 6-12 inches deep at a spacing of 1 x 1 ft for at least 50 ft in as many directions as possible, and add organic matter with fertilizer to the drilled holes. Organic matter will help hold the nutrients in place in sandy soils, and in clay will help aerate, and hold on to moisture for the roots,

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TreeWorker

I would say there isn't much of a life left in this Cherry. How Long ago did they do this?

I have noticed a group of fruiting bodies in picture 3, I'm not too sure what they are, being new to Australia and their fungus's but I'd say they're definitely parasitic and possibly a brown rotting fungus?

Either way, the tree isn't doing well and this hacking/topping has badly damaged the trees health and appearance.

Definitely don't leave it how it is, it's unsightly. Take treeshaveneeds advice and also take those limbs back to source and pollard it. It will be hard for the tree to take but it will give it a better chance of survival.

It's pretty much all you can do apart from remove it. It won't be the same again

Garry Brockley

the tree has fruiting bodies on the main trunk look between the lichen! the best thing to do is remove and replant another tree, if you manage to get any growth on the tree it will likely die from the pathogens attacking it from within. so in the long run it would be a waste of your time money and effort.

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Eric Frei

Crikeys!

Also see the bulge down lower (pic 1), closer to the ground. Bunch of fruiting bodies in the RH side near that crack .... I think this thing is well and truly stuffed. That bulge normally indicates rot inside and the tree was thickening it's walls.

You could whack it at ground level, wait for it to regrow (coppice), select out strongest shoot and grow a new tree ... but with all the fungi around and old decaying wood in the ground I dare say it would be prone to problems.

Those fungi look like Jews ear , Auricularia sp.

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John Vander

The small branches are supple and did produce leaves last summer. Seems to be the only sign of life at this point. I'm certain some of the lopped branches are pretty much rotten inside. Guys, thanx a lot for the exellent info. I'll meet with the head master of our school as soon as possible and discuss which direction we'll take. As far as cherry trees in Japan are concerned, they suffer a lot from fungus and insects due to Japan's heavy rainfall. Recenty we've had WAY too much rain also, contributing to alot of problems in general. Fungus and insects laughed all the way to the bank, off course. I'll need to check that fungus again. not sure what kind. There's alot of other stuff growing there too!

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"What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself." Abraham Lincoln

John Vander

Here's a couple more pics of what's going on with this tree. Yeah, it looks pretty bad.

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"What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself." Abraham Lincoln

TreeWorker

It's not Jelly/Jews ear anyway!

The cherry must go. Plant a new one

Peace

Brent Ferris

With the more complete pics John, take out the tree, and plant something else that will naturally grow well, and let this tree rest in peace or pieces.

__________________
My business: Tree Pruning and Removals -- Strump Removals -- Advice -- Consulting -- Arborist Reports
If you want an honest opinion, call Brent Ferris...because, Trees want to Live Too !
We do great jobs, even in small yards.

Free Estimates Oakville to Oshawa - North to Bradford (Will travel further if cost of travelling covered)

John Vander

Roger that. Thanx. Do you think there's any chance of trying to "feed" the roots as to encourage new sprouts? Here in Japan they have a natural supplement know as "Manda Hakkou". It's a combination of a huge variety of fermented vegie extracts. I have seen farmers produce world record sized vegetables by making use of this stuff. It's also suitable for other plants. I was thinking of using this as "root feed".

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"What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself." Abraham Lincoln

John Vander

No it's not a watermellon. This guy is holding a white radish. One of the winners of the annual all Japan giant radish competition. By making use of the supplement I mentioned, he grew this thing. I'm not going to try and grow a monster cherry tree, but I was thinking of using some of this stuff as a help to nourish the roots.

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"What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself." Abraham Lincoln

John Vander

In the one pic you can see the swelling of the trunk just above the ground. The tree also stands next to a bank with a steep fall. On one side there's a cable anchor, and on the other side there's an electric pole. The lean of the tree is away from these obstacles though. I'm thinking that because of the condition of the trunk, if alot of rot is present, there wouldn't be much hingewood in there. I want to avoid this thing coming down and rolling off the bank. Any safety advice on bringing this thing down? The trunk is quite "top heavy", and I'm thinking that a rotten core might cause the tree to break due to the lean before the back cut is completed. There isn't much of an escape way either.

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"What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself." Abraham Lincoln

John Vander

I took this photo of where I cut off the tree. The wood seems to have been in a serious stage of decay. What a waste of good wood.

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"What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself." Abraham Lincoln