MikeEdStan

Thanks for the feedback. would you take the upright watershoots off now?

Hi, Back in February, I got some great advice here on a post called: "Helping a large cherry tree that's bleeding sap" I'm pleased to confirm the Cherry is looking healthy, although it does still have sap on the trunk. It has very little fruit (and had very little blossom), however I hope this isn't really a problem - it's clearly old and I'm just pleased to see healthy looking leaves and a few cherry's forming. I'm not 100% on what type cherry it is, however I now think it's a Tibetan Cherry...the tree surgeon doesn't know for sure either. It has a red colour bark, and small fruits as seen in the photo, and is about 10m high and 7m across. I have been advised to get the tree pruned asap this summer. This is to remove the watershoots all over (you can see there are a lot of them in the photos), and also to trim back 1.5m off multiple branches to shape the tree (especially those hanging over the neighbours garden fence, which can be seen on the left of the first photo). Having read up online, there seems to be conflicting advice on when and whether to prune cherries, therefore I'm coming back to this forum with a few questions: is this a Tibetan cherry? Is it advised to remove all watershoots in summer (now) Should we have the branches pruned? The tree is a nice shape, so the only reason for doing it would be to try to help it (I don't believe there are any dead branches) Thank you in advance for any feedback. Mike

Thanks All. I should have a good idea of what the soil is like next week - we have someone using a mole machine to replace the lead pipework. It's very likely to be clay low down, but as daltontrees suggests, I'm sure the lawn is raised (I'll check the soil). Unless the molar surprises me, I'm 95% I want it out and replaced. So, here's for the novice question...if I aim to move it (to the back), do I have any chance of survival? I know this depends on approach, positioning, but mostly on the size of the tree. If I do this, I'd probably try for next weekend, and I'd need to prune it quite heavily to get it through the back gate, to keep the wait/size down and to keep no more than 3 feet diameter of roots. I wouldn't be too sad if it didn't work out (considering it'll be a last attempt to keep it), but I'd be very happy if it did! Thanks

Thanks all. This is very helpful. Peds - I'll get onto giving it nutrients asap - this is exactly what I needed to know. Thanks Is there anything I should be doing to check if the wood borers are active? or is nutrients the best/only way to fix and prevent this too?

Hi, thanks for your interest. This is in the Bristol area. The house is 1903, and so we've been advised that the foundations will be limited (not sure what this means exactly). There is no basement, but a deep void (about 3-4 feet) under the front room, so likely 2-3 feet down from the lawn. The house has had slight historic movement, which has settled, but this was the reason the engineer surveyed it. I'm interested to understand what I can do to learn how the roots might be getting close to the house (digging/scanning etc), and whether there is some sort of cost efficient (and longterm) barrier I could put in myself. and whether we can get away with pruning/managing it. I had a tree surgeon over, and he felt both trees are a risk, but was also clear that this was not his expertise. He advised removing it and planting something smaller that we keep on top of. Most of the houses along the street have a small tree or two in the front. I recently heard one house had to have underpinning done, but this was (apparently) down to a lack of pollarding of the trees on the street.

Hi All, This might be a very straight forward one... We have a magnolia tree at the front of our recently purchased house. A structural engineer has suggested it should be removed in case of damage to the house. Most advice online would suggest the same, however it would be a shame. I'm wondering if there is anything that can be done to protect our foundations and save the tree? The tree is just 5 foot from the house. It must have grown quickly, and is near 20 foot high, has a 10 foot crown and a 6 inch trunk. The front garden is raised, but slopes towards the front wall and pavement. You can see on the photo that there is a lower path about a 2 foot drop on the far side of the tree, so most/all routes will be across the lawn. The tree slopes towards path, which is also likely because the front is north facing. There is also a smaller cherry about 8-9 feet away that we'll prune to keep it from growing any larger. Hoping for advise on what we should do? Are there any options to save the tree? or should we remove? Thanks in advance for viewing this and any responses.

Hi All, We've recently moved to a house in the Bristol area, which has a beautiful cherry tree in the garden, however it's stressed, and I want to help/save it. I'm new to Arbtalk - a local tree surgeon recommended I post here to get some good advice. I have attached photos. I don’t know what type of cherry tree it is (would like to know…waiting to see the leaves) …it’s about 25 feet tall, with a 20-foot crown and near 2-foot trunk diameter. It sits in a sunny spot in a southwest facing garden. It doesn’t look like it’s been pruned in a long time. The lawn slops down lightly towards the house and its roots are prominent across the lawn. My neighbour explained that the previous owner had someone cut 3-4 large branches from the tree a few years ago to allow light into the garden (which upset my neighbour). He says the tree has always looked very healthy, and was surprised when I mentioned my concerns. Where the branches were removed, black spots have appeared on the cut area, and small boring holes are visible. I’m not sure if the boring is current – no dust is present. The tree has sap in about 10-15 locations around the trunk, from the ground to about 8-10 feet up. I’m hoping that by viewing the photos, the experts here could provide advice on what I can do to help the tree. We will plan to have it pruned in the summer, however should we do anything else now? try to remove the sap? (does this look like cankers?). Huge thanks in advance for viewing this and any responses