No blossom on Flowering Cherry

neilmcl

Are there any tree experts on here. I have a well established flowering cherry in my garden that for years has given glorious spring blossom followed by thick foliage but last spring the blossom was a bit sparse and the resulting leaves were also quite sparse and stunted throughout the year. It looks like this season is going the same way with very little blossom, and only on new growth at the top of the tree, the rest of the tree has had no flowers and only small growths of leaves but again they look quite weak and stunted, although it's still a bit early to see how well they'll come on. A lot of the branches have buds but they look quite dried up.

Any ideas what the problem could be and if there's anything I can do to help. I had a tree surgeon out back in February to see if it's worth cutting right back or pollarding but he suggested I should wait until after spring to see what state the tree is in then. I'm afraid the tree could be dying which would be a real shame as it's been there for decades, possibly as old as the house itself (1930s).

Farway

Could be it's on it's last legs, well known plant expert Monty Google gives cherries about 30 years, some have much less, depends on variety

twopenny

We've had two very wet springs and very dry summers. 
I'd first check the branches for any disease like brown rot and trim off any that are dead and crispy. Have you watered it during the summer? Have you fed it? Even an old tree needs some tender care sometimes.
It looks like it's trying to save it's energy because it's struggling. Your job is to find out if there's something wrong (like this ;-) and try a few things to put it right.
I'll wait to see if someone more expert than me answers before I make suggestions.

rev229

This happened to our 20 yr old cherry tree last year.  Unfortunately it had died and we had to have it removed.

Apodemus

If it is in its 90's it is a very old cherry tree!  

I know of three developments where I can age the cherry trees that were planted at the time.  The 1950's one has only one of the trees left and it is in a pretty sad state.  A row from the mid-80's is showing its age, but has responded well to good pruning.  And one from the 1990's is looking to be in its prime (apart from the fact that the recent re-development of the site took out the whole row of amazing road-side flowering cherries except one, and planted a single birch per new house instead... )