Are my two cardinal crabapples dead?

treeguru wannabe

So I planted almost 20 trees last May/June. Two in particular haven't leaved or anything yet, even though last summer they were fine and last fall they fell their leaves like normal. Please see the pictures attached. As you can see, there is a branch on the bottom part of the tree that is leaving but that's it. Both trees look like this. I have a one-year warranty on both trees that's coming up here soon that if they are dead, I can dig them up and bring them back for new trees.

Any help would be appreciated...Thanks!

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dov

If they are dead, the twigs will dry out and get brittle and if you scrape the bark on the main trunk with a knife, the cambium layer will be brown.

treeguru wannabe

They are a little brittle, but still flexible to a point. I just can't see how these things can be alive still when everything is leaving and turning green. But, like I said, I'd rather not dig them up if they have a chance. What do you think?

dov

Scrape a little bit of bark off the main stem near the base. If it's brown underneath instead of moist white or green, it's dead.

treeguru wannabe

I'll take a look tonight and see.

If you don't mind and know a lot about trees, I have one or two more threads out there about a couple other trees that are waning. Not sure what's going on with them....Definately not as bad as these two, but def. not normal.

Thanks for all the help!

TreeSpecialist

The pictures show poor specimens to begin with - leaders cut back with poor form.

The idea of a "1 year warranty" smacks of buying the trees at one of the big box stores (Lowes, Walmart, Target, or Home Depot.)

The box stores are typically where trees go to die. First of all, the smaller nurseries have pre-selected all of the best trees from the wholesale growers. They then pay for the trees and care for them until they are sold to the public. Their reputation is at risk if they sell poor quality merchandise.

The "culls" or the "leftovers" are sent to the box stores where they are left on "consignment." The box stores don't pay the growers until the sale goes through the cash register. Employees of HD around here have been overheard to brag that they don't own the plants and don't worry about disease, insects, or watering because it doesn't hurt the store if the plant dies while in their custody.

Meanwhile, you've wasted a year waiting for your trees to grow.

Seek out a local nursery where there are people who know and care for plants. You might wind up paying a little more but the money will stay within your community and you'll get a better product.

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treeguru wannabe

I appreciate the info and agree 100% with what you have said about the 'big box stores.' We actually bought these from a high-end grocery store so not sure if that falls in that category, but they definately don't specialize in trees and plants. Yes, they have their green house but not sure on the quality? One thing to mention though, the rest of my trees look good for the most part, and that's out of 20 that we bought from them last year so not a bad rate of return I guess.

I was going to dig them up and bring them over to exchange them this weekend but I'm still holding out hope. The branches are still bendable and the bark is still waxy so it doesn't look like it's dead in that part...unless it takes a while for that stuff to happen to trees when they die (branches become brittle, etc)?

TreeSpecialist

High end grocery store? same thing - what do they know about trees? They are grocers not nurserymen!

You'd be better off starting over with trees from a more reputable source.

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treeguru wannabe

I agree they probably aren't of the caliber of the trees that I would get at the nursery, but with my budget that's about what I can afford, and like I said, most of the trees are doing great.

treeguru wannabe

Well, after two more weeks of waiting, still no buds or leaves on the trees. The bottom of the tree is starting to grow branches (very bottom, by the base) and leaves, but that's it. Does anyone know why that is? If it was dead, would it still do that? I'm about ready to give up on them and dig them up/exchange them.

TreeSpecialist

Likely as not, the basal sprouts are from the root stock and won't be the exact variety you think you bought.

Trash them - get your money back and then buy better trees from a local more reputable supplier.

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treeguru wannabe

Thanks for the quick response. I'm going to hopefully be digging them up in a week or so, maybe less depending on my work schedule, and get better trees. So, they have till then to improve, but I'm guessing that won't happen.

If you don't mind me asking, why do those branches/leaves form at the bottom....part of the root stock, and will they ever amount to anything?