Failed Amur Cherry

[Frax]

Complete failure of this large Amur cherry.


broken Amur 5 by altacal, on Flickr

It was in full leaf and superficially very nice looking when it fell.

You can see there is poor root attachment. Only surface roots on two sides. So-called frost cracking which is pretty typical for this species.


Broken Amur cherry (2) by altacal, on Flickr

The root area wood was light and softish but not to my eye a lot of rot.

The wood in every limb was suspiciously light, so the tree was basically walking dead. If we had been called on to prune this tree I don't think I would have given climbing it a second thought.

Diagnosis? In my mind and with input from others...stem-girdling roots (SGR) and maybe some man-made constriction although I could not see one. Vinces idea that tthese trees are grown poorly and suffer from this may be right. And I'm leaning towards that as the explanation of the earlier dead one I posted about. I'm beginning to suspect there is a problem with this species in production.


Broken Amur cherry (3) by altacal, on Flickr

 

[nuthin_special]

Another clue...

Always hard to tell from a picture. Could lawn edger damage have been a problem in the past. Maybe the HO identified that as a problem and added the mulch ring?

Last fall i had to "replant" 5 or 6 amur cherries at a new development. They came from the nursery with 6 inches of soil over the collar in the B&B. It seemed as though the nursery had taken potted stock and stuck it in a B&B. The other species from the same nursery were fine. (by fine i mean at the right depth, we still had to remove wire and burlap from all of their plantings). Maybe there is some practice with growing these trees in the nursery that makes them prone to this?

I'm seeing so many problems in "mature" amurs that i am not recomending them any more.

Still have that RCX booked for soonish on one, i'll report what i find.

Frax, thanks for posting this.

vince

 

[guymayor]

Is that a graft union?

That mini-mulched area sure sped the rot!

 

[Frax]

I wondered about that too Guy. I don't know. The constriction could be where a root was ...and is still in the ground, or maybe some kind of binding...or a graft.
I need to find out if Amurs are typically grafted. I know someone to ask.

 

[pcarborist]

[ QUOTE ]


The root area wood was light and softish but not to my eye a lot of rot.

[/ QUOTE ]

sure looks rotted to me Frax.
Dirr lists a cultivar, "amber beauty". Like other fruit trees I'd bet its grafted.

 

[easyphloem]

The first thought I had from the top picture was a graft. That's a pretty bark characteristic, not too familiar with that species.
I have a hard time recommending fruit trees, besides all of the disease and pest problems, weak root systems, sgrs, "sun scald", the list goes on.
I like advising my clients to plant long lasting, native trees like Bradford Pear, and Leyland Cypress.

SZ

 

[Frax]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


The root area wood was light and softish but not to my eye a lot of rot.

[/ QUOTE ]

sure looks rotted to me Frax.
Dirr lists a cultivar, "amber beauty". Like other fruit trees I'd bet its grafted.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the note about grafting. I should have said there was no mycelial masses or other obvious fungi present. But the wood was dry and somewhat soft in places in the butt area so some form of dry rot must have been in play.

Amur cherry is a beautiful tree with glossy copper coloured peeling bark. I may not recommend it any more.

 

[RopeShield]

Looks to me like girdling root.
Had a Norway pop out of the ground just like that, the remaining hole was lined with one large girdling root.

Tree was in full leaf and looked typical the day it failed.

 

[guymayor]

[ QUOTE ]
Amur cherry is a beautiful tree with glossy copper coloured peeling bark. I may not recommend it any more.

[/ QUOTE ]
Let's not overreact, until you know that failures are not due to graft or root issues, both of which can be dealt with at planting time, and inspected for if management is competent.

 

[Frax]

Its a nice tree. I have to find out more about the graft issue. I wonder if teh tree can be bought on own roots.

 

[nuthin_special]

Did an excavation on an amur today. It wasn't dead but it was close. I don't think it would qualify as a sudden amur cherry death syndrome candidate.

Anyway, the culprit was certainly girdling roots. Image attached. Hopefully with the offending roots removed the tree will grow better over the next few seasons.

Root collar excavating is certainly one of the best tools that arborists have for prolonging tree life. If only clients would more easily shell out the dough to have us do them.

vince

 

[Frax]

Thanks for this Vince. I think we all might be - at least I certainly am - learning about some important tree issues that might otherwise not be widely known. Let us know how that one does next spring if you can.

 

[guymayor]

didnt open for me. definitely once a client sees them they know they are not good.

Or you could buy Landscape
below
Ground III and show them the last chapter.