I have a 9 year old Japanese cherry tree that has a severe bark split. I have not done anything yet, but the inside looks like there is a sticky substance . The tree did not bloom this spring at all. Leave coverage is about 70% compared to other years. The spit is facing west where it has the most sun exposure and we had the coldest winter last year. Will the tree survive? Should I fertilize it? Is there anything else I should do?
It looks like sun scald. The damage is quite severe, am afraid not much can be done to help the tree. Welcome to the forum.
Thanks, does that mean wait and see if it will recover? There are some leaves coming out from the bottom bark.
Most ornamental cherry trees are grafted, which means that the leaves coming out of the bottom part of the trunk would not be the same kind of cherry, would not be an ornamental cherry, and it's unlikely the tree would grow to be anything that would give you much pleasure. Compare the leaves from the top and from the trunk, particularly the leaf edges - the ones at the top should be evenly serrated (like a knife); ones at the bottom might be unevenly sort of scalloped). If they're not the same, you're almost certainly not interested in them. If they are the same, someone else has to answer that. There are some root stocks (the bottom part) that turn into decent-looking trees, with balls of single white blossoms. They're not as showy as the ornamental cultivars. I'm not sure there's any way to know if, were the tree salvageable, it would grow to be anything you'd like to have.
