Hi There New at this, I have a Cherry tree, that has the bark splitting really bad, the cherrys are sparce at best, and the leaves look like something is eating them, full of holes.
The injury looks like sunscald or sunburn, depending on whether it occurred during the winter or summer. The smooth area in the photo appears to be the location of a major limb that was cut off at least a year ago. If that limb was near the south side of the tree, its removal would have exposed that side of the trunk to increased sunlight. This is exactly the situation that results in bark injury, since the previously shaded bark would not be able to tolerate the sudden increase in heat and/or ultraviolet light. I had the same thing happen to one of my cherry trees when I pruned out some limbs from the centre of the tree. The leaves full of holes could be a sign of Coryneum Blight, but photos would be needed to confirm that.
Problem below branch removal may have something to do with branch removal. Also looks like you may have filled over the tree, taper of trunk at ground line looks like crown is buried. Trunk problem might also have something to do with this also.
The holes in the leaves of the cherry tree are too large and infrequent to be the result of Coryneum Blight. They look more like insect larvae damage, but it would be difficult to figure out what insect without seeing it.
I agree with Ron, There should be a lot more taper at the base. If the ground around the base has been filled above the original grade, dig back to where that is for as wide a radius as possible...otherwise you will have prime conditions for heart rot, also the soil piling could simply slowly kill the tree. If this is not the case, you might have a girdling root or something else affecting trunk taper at the root collar, which could lead to low vigour (resulting in low resistance to pests and pathogens) and eventually death of one side of, or the whole tree. The scar looks like it is healing over nicely on one side but it is difficult to see where new wood is being put on on the right side of the picture.
