When trees trade in their bare-boned branches for leafy green stems, it’s clear spring has arrived!
But what happens if your trees are still bare well into the spring season? That’s a question Davey blog reader Dianna from Ohio had when her flowering plum and paperbark maple trees didn’t get any new leaves in spring following an unusually warm winter.
Turns out, trees like Dianna’s plum or paperback maple aren’t the only ones that deal with delayed growth in springtime. If you have an oak, elm, or cherry tree not leafing out, or anyone of your beloved trees failed to bloom, keep reading to find out what happened and what you can do.
Weeping cherry trees are truly stunning when in full bloom, cascading gracefully down with their pinkish-white flowers But sometimes these prized ornamentals fail to leaf out, leaving you with an ugly bare stick of a tree If your weeping cherry isn’t producing leaves, don’t give up on it yet! With some detective work and attentive care, you can often spur it back into leafing out beautifully again.
Why Your Weeping Cherry Isn’t Leafing Out
There are a few key reasons why your weeping cherry may be sitting leafless and barren:
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Winter injury – Extended freezing weather, rapid temperature fluctuations, or late frosts can damage the flower and leaf buds, preventing leaves from emerging in spring. This is a very common cause of lack of leaves
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Pest problems – Borers, scale insects, spider mites, and other pests can decimate the buds and tiny new twigs before they have a chance to leaf out. Carefully check for signs of pests infesting the tree.
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Root damage – Girdling roots, extreme drought, root rot diseases, and rodent feeding on roots can all impair the root system’s ability to support new growth.
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Pruning errors – Overly zealous pruning or improper cuts can strip away the latent leaf buds that the tree needs in order to leaf out.
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Graft failure – With grafted weeping cherry trees, the top weeping portion may die off while the rootstock below lives on. This leaves you with a living trunk but no leaves.
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General decline – Poor soils, drought stress, drainage issues, or advanced age can cause the tree to languish and fail to leaf out well.
Figuring out the underlying cause is essential to either getting your cherry tree to recover and re-leaf, or knowing if replacement is required.
How to Get a Weeping Cherry to Produce Leaves Again
If your cherry tree still shows signs of life, like smooth undamaged bark, green cambium when scratched, and perhaps some new shoots emerging from the rootstock, there is hope you can coax it back into leafing out nicely. Follow these tips:
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Check for pests/diseases – Carefully inspect the tree for borers, scale, mites, cankers, or other issues. Treat any problems found right away before they worsen.
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Improve growing conditions – Examine roots and drainage and make fixes if needed. Top dress with compost and mulch to nourish the soil. Deep water during dry periods.
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Prune properly – Remove all dead and dying branches to open up the canopy. Selectively prune remaining stems to encourage vigorous new shoots. Avoid over pruning.
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Protect new growth – Wrap trunks of younger or newly leafing out trees to prevent sunscald. Stake any weak branches to stop breakage.
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Fertilize lightly – Apply a balanced organic fertilizer to provide extra nutrients needed for generating new leaves.
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Be patient – It takes time for trees to produce new leaves, so allow 2-3 months before assuming failure and removing the tree.
With attentive care focused on strengthening its resources, the cherry tree should be able to rebound from the adversity it faced and restore its beautiful canopy of leaves.
Getting a Weeping Cherry to Bloom Again After No Leaves
Weeping cherries are just as prized for their spring blooms as their cascading leaves. If your leafless tree also lacked flowers, take these steps to help blooming resume:
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Prune minimally to preserve next year’s flower buds.
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Provide supplemental irrigation before and during bud swell.
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Apply high phosphorus fertilizer to stimulate blooming.
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Spray with liquid kelp to encourage flowering.
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Ensure maximum sunlight exposure to energize the buds.
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Top dress with compost to add nutrients.
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Control pests like aphids that can hinder flowering.
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Rule out diseases that inhibit blooms like bacterial canker.
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Be patient – full recovery may take 1-2 years.
With time and attentive care, you can typically coax a reluctant weeping cherry into flowering and leafing beautifully again.
When to Consider Replacing Your Weeping Cherry
Despite your best efforts at nursing it back to health, sometimes a weeping cherry that refuses to leaf out or bloom is too far gone and needs replacing. Consider removing and replacing your tree if:
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The main trunk or several large branches are dead.
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Significant dieback occurs year after year.
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Extensive borer damage or canker infections are found.
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The bark at the graft union is damaged or split open.
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White fungal growth covers the bark.
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The roots show signs of rot or the soil stays soggy.
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No leaves emerge for 2-3 years in a row.
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Less than 25% normal blooms are produced after several years.
While saying goodbye to a beloved tree is difficult, investing in a new healthy weeping cherry is sometimes the wisest solution.
Choosing a Replacement Weeping Cherry
When starting fresh with a new weeping cherry tree, look for one displaying:
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A sturdy, straight trunk and evenly spaced branching.
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Clean, smooth, blemish-free bark.
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Plump, intact buds and no dead twigs or branches.
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Nice full shape with branching cascading close to the ground.
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An undamaged graft union with no splits, sap, or swelling.
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Leaves already emerged if purchased after spring.
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Signs of new white root growth from the root ball.
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Good labeling details like variety, mature size, and hardiness range.
Select a site with excellent drainage and aim for early spring planting. Stake the tree for a year as the roots establish. Provide weekly deep watering the first season and maintain a layer of mulch around the base. With proper planting and follow-up care, your new weeping cherry will soon mature into a stunning focal point in your landscape.
The Allure of the Graceful Weeping Cherry
When lush with leaves and covered in weeping strands of pinkish-white blooms in spring, the weeping cherry is one of the most elegant and coveted of ornamental trees. But maintaining their beauty depends on vigilance in spotting signs of stress and responding promptly. With attentive care tailored to their needs, a weeping cherry tree that fails to leaf out can often make a full recovery and reclaim its rightful place as one of the loveliest of landscape specimens. Don’t give up too soon on a recalcitrant weeping cherry – a bit of patience and TLC may be just what it needs to leaf out lushly once again.
Look For Disease Symptoms On A Tree That’s Not Leafing Out
Spring and tree disease go hand in hand, and anthracnose is a disease that can hinder leaf growth on trees like ash, maple, oak or sycamore.
Trees affected by anthracnose might prematurely lose their first flush of leaves early on. If there are any leaves left, they’ll be wilted, curled and brown. After the infection has subsided and if the tree is otherwise healthy, a second flush of leaves should occur.
Is Your Elm Or Oak Tree Not Leafing Out?
Elms and oaks sprout leaves later after the cold weather is gone’. Because of this, it’s not uncommon for these trees to wait until late spring or even early summer to grow leaves.
If your tree looks healthy (which you’ll find out how to determine below), just give it a little time!
Q&A – Why does my weeping cherry have leaves only at the top?
FAQ
Why is my cherry tree not producing leaves?
For ornamental trees like plum or cherry, the problem could be fluctuating weather or just fatigue. Like maples, ornamental trees can get tricked into sprouting too early. If that’s the case, they’ll show signs of frost damage and may not bloom again this year.
How to revive a weeping cherry tree?
You’ll have to cut large suckers off of the trunk and roots. If you keep the suckers under control, your tree will continue to weep. If you have a weeping canopy with only a few straight branches, you can remove the straight branches. Cut them off at their source, leaving a stub no more than half an inch (1 cm.)
Why is my tree not leafing out?
Another reason for a tree not to produce leaves is a lack of resources. Trees won’t start growing if they don’t have the nutrients or water to do so. A lack of water will be more obvious, with the branches and twigs wilting. In times of drought, fixing this issue is difficult.
Why does my cherry tree look dead?
Cherry trees are very sensitive to wet soil conditions. If the soil stayed wet during the recent rainy period the tree definitely could have drown. The symptoms (all leaves turning brown in a short period) are consistent with sudden root death that can be caused by prolonged wet soil conditions.
Why does my weeping cherry tree Wilt?
When mature leaves wilt, curl, turn brown or yellow and fall from the tree during the spring and summer, the weeping cherry is not getting enough water. When immature leaves turn pale, new branch growth wilts and the leaves stay green but become brittle, the weeping cherry tree is getting too much water.
Is a weeping cherry tree getting too much water?
When immature leaves turn pale, new branch growth wilts and the leaves stay green but become brittle, the weeping cherry tree is getting too much water. How do you know if a weeping cherry tree is getting too much water?
Do weeping cherries have flowers?
Weeping cherries are prized just as much for their showy spring flowers as for their leaves. If your leafless tree was also absent of blooms, take these steps to help flowering resume: Avoid heavy pruning to preserve next year’s flower buds. Provide supplemental water before and during bud swell.
What causes a weeping cherry tree to turn yellow?
They are often found on the undersides of leaves, where they feed by puncturing plant cells and extracting sap. This feeding activity can result in the yellowing or browning of leaves, and in severe cases, defoliation may occur, placing additional stress on the weeping cherry tree.
Do weeping cherry trees have pests?
The health and aesthetics of a weeping cherry tree may be seriously threatened by pests. These little invaders may harm the branches and leaves, impeding the tree’s ability to expand in its whole. Let’s examine two common pests and their efficient controls. 6. Aphids: Tiny Troublemakers
Do weeping cherry trees ripen in the fall?
In the fall, the leaves turn vibrant shades of yellow and orange, adding to the tree’s ornamental value. While weeping cherry trees are primarily grown for their blossoms, they do produce small fruits after the flowers fade. The fruits are small, less than an inch in diameter, and turn black when ripe.