Weeping Cherry trees

Top 20. May 12, 2003 10:14 AM

» Carol Wallace - Re: Re: Re: starting weeping cherry trees

In response to message posted by cranberryhouse:
It may be possible but I doubt it - you'd have to somehow make that cut off piece grow roots and with something of that size and age it could be very tricky. You'd be better off grafting it to a short trunk - a very short one of you want - but something that has a strong root system.

Don't forget - weeping cherries not only get tall but wide - as wide as they are tall. So they can also be 8-10 feet wide. And any trunk you graft it onto will grow - plus the height actually comes from the layering of branches in the weeping part - the new branches first grow up a bit and then out. SO all you would really accomplish is a tree that is in constant need of a haircut because the limbs will keep dragging on the ground. Your "new" tree will simply start weeping closer to the ground than the regular grafted one.

I'm not sure if I'm explaining this clearly but I see it with my weeping Japanese maples. I have some that were grafted onto 4' trunks - so the branches begin to weef from that 4' level and it took a while before they wept low enough to get to ground level. But I had one grafted onto a very short trunk and its branches hit the ground in a very short time. By now both of them are the same height, though - it's just that I can walk under the weeping branches of the tall graft but would have to crawl under the branches of the short graft.

Anyway - take a look at this page which will not only explain why your tree looks like it does now but how to care for it. You will have to scroll down a bit to the section on "Watch those grafted plants in your landscape."

-- posted by Carol Wallace

Top 21. May 12, 2003 10:21 AM

» Carol Wallace - Re: Re: Re: Re: Generally speaking they shouldn't need much pru

In response to message posted by gorillagirl:
Where do you live and what zone is that? I suspect you're right about a late cold snap destroying the buds on the cherry tree. It happened here last year. And depending on the terrain in your area it's quite possible that yours is exposed while others are more sheltered, lowwer in altitude, or something so that the cold didn't get to them the way it did yours. If you live in a hilly area that can happen. I can grow plants a full zone more tender than our local nursery, a mile away, can because of where in the mountains I am situated.

Also, in many area of the country we have generally warmer overall weather but the cold seasons themselves are lasting longer. So the last frost is happening later than usual, the cold days are still outnumbering the warm ones - that, too, can affect bloom time.

Another possibility - the trees you see around may be a different variety than yours. Pink cherry trees sometimes bloom before the white.

Anyway - here is an article that explains how climate affects the bloom on a cherry tree.

Then again - maybe it's hungry. Sometimes a cherry tree will fail to bloom because of lack of nutrition. Use a fertilizer recommended for roses that includes zinc, iron, magnesium, etc. and follow package directions.

You can get some general information on the care and feeding of a weeping cherry tree here.

I trim the dragging branches for two reasons - the first simply because it's neater looking. And if they drag on the ground my husband will probably mow then with his riding mower whether he means to or not, so I'd rather do a clean job of it with my pruning shears. Another reason, though, is that it is possible that the branches that hit the ground could take root - and suddenly I'd have hundreds of rooted cherry trees to deal with. (Not a bad thing, I guess, if you have a lot of property. ;-) But that happened when I didn't trim my forsythia and it turned into a real nighmare of separating the main plant from the new stuff that sprung up around it.

-- posted by Carol Wallace

Top 22. May 12, 2003 7:09 PM

» cranberryhouse - Re: Re: Re: Re: starting weeping cherry trees

In response to message posted by CarolWallace:

Thanks, you have been very helpful. So if I am understanding all of this.. it is very difficult or maybe impossible to get the tree to root from just half a tree right? even with a rooting hormone?
Second, does it have to be a cherry tree that I graft it to or can it be any tree?
Debbie

-- posted by cranberryhouse

Top 23. May 12, 2003 9:20 PM

» Carol Wallace - Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: starting weeping cherry trees

In response to message posted by cranberryhouse:
I'd have to say that it would be well nigh impossible to root a fully developed tree trunk. Usually people root softwood cuttings - the young, tender, bendable twigs. The only time I've ever heard of anything larger rooting is with willows - and willows contain a natural rooting hormone - you can make your own by cutting up a lot of willow twigs and letting them soak in water for a week or two and using that water to root other stuff.

I'm by no means a tree grafting expert, but I would venture to say it should be a cherry tree. It doesn't have to be the same kind of cherry though. I know roses -whatever the variety - tend to be grafted onto the rootstock of a very few dependable varieties that are hardy. The only "mixed marriage" I know of is with tree peonies, which are grafted onto the roots of herbaceous peonies - but even there, the plants are closely related.

-- posted by Carol Wallace

Top 24. May 28, 2003 9:47 AM

» hunterboy48653 - Need Help

I hope I did this correctly. I was wondering about the pests that do harm to the weeping cherry. I just planted one this spring and it is doing great, but I keep seeing a lot of ants on the tree. Will they harm it? Is this normal?
Thanks

Josh

-- posted by hunterboy48653

Top 25. May 28, 2003 3:03 PM

» Carol Wallace - Re: Need Help

In response to message posted by hunterboy48653:
Have you ever grown peonies? When in bud they positively swarm with ants and there is a rumor that the peonies need the ants to help the buds open. As a rule, ants are more of a nuisance to us than to the plants. In some instances they actually are helpful.

BUT - you way want to look carefully at the tree to see if anything unusual is attracting them - like leaking tree sap.But as a rule (although few people realize this) some types of ants live in trees. Carpenter ants, for instance, are also called tree ants for that very reason. So finding them all over a tree is normal.

-- posted by Carol Wallace

Top 26. Jul 2, 2003 6:26 AM

» MELL5 - Weeping Cherry Tree concern

My new weeping cherry tree just went through a cool and rainy spring and then got blasted with a heat wave of about four days. After the second day of the heat wave some of the new growth looked as if it was burned(leaves were brown). Now after a week it has lost 80% of its leaves and has sap coming out of the main trunk. I believe the tree has plenty of water. What else should I do? Is this normal after being shocked and will the tree make it? Thanks for your response.

-- posted by MELL5

Top 27. Jul 2, 2003 12:55 PM

» Carol Wallace - Re: Weeping Cherry Tree concern

In response to message posted by MELL5:
Look carefully at the area where the sap is - do you see any kind of wound?

-- posted by Carol Wallace

Top 28. Jul 2, 2003 4:33 PM

» Carol Wallace - Re: Re: Weeping Cherry Tree concern

In response to message posted by CarolWallace:
I should also ask where on the trunk the sap is leaking from.

A few things that cause trees to weep sap include borers - insects that bore into the wood and cause damage because of the many small holes they create, injury - like from a weed whacker or anything else that might have cut into the bark, or other pests that have crawled under the bark of the tree and are creating problems. Does the bark of the tree lift easily? And if it does and you lift it do you see small insects running for cover?

Finally, there is a possibility that the tree was planted incorrectly - that is, deeper than it was in a pot or as a bare root specimen. Chances are it was in a pot. If it was mulched above the base of the tree where the bark becomes root the tree could have insect damage, especially if the soil around the tree was kept wet for a long time

-- posted by Carol Wallace