Hi, here I am in sunny Toronto, wondering what is wrong with one of my two, two and a half storey tall, 30 - 80 year old (I've lived in this house only seven years), fruit-bearing cherry trees: The trunk has a five foot, vertical, half inch to one inch wide slash which extends downward from the main branch; the vertical slash continues downward for another five feet, about a quarter turn round the trunk. The bottom slash has two very small sites of dark brown blobs of sap; one on the slash line; the other, on the bark further down and a couple of inches away from the slash. The slash/es is/are clean and there are no insects apparent. The lower branches, those that I can reach, snap off easily. They seem to have dry, but fairly new leaf buds. It looks as if the higher branches are in bud, but I'd have to wait at least a few more days to see if they are going to open. Any ideas? Thanks.
This looks like freezing damage to me. Is it recent as in was it there last year? The other issue - the brittle branches/twigs may not be related. My apple got that way thru neglect, namely lack of proper pruning. It seemed there was just too much tree for the roots, and I suspect it was part of a "self pruning" process. It's looking better now after a hearty haircut. Ralph
