Cherry Trees Not Growing?

Question

Last year I ordered 2 cherry trees from a catalogue and had them planted in our yard in West Virginia. We ordered a red cherry and a black sweet cherry tree and had them planted in full sun, about 35 feet apart. The trees came to us with roots intact and about 4 feet of stump; however, in the year since they’ve been planted, they have only grown 7″ and there are not any blooms or stems emerging from the planting (they look like sticks in the ground).

I initially put fertilizer underneath before having them planted, and have fertilized them since the planting; however, nothing seems to change. No blooms or off-shoots this year have emerged. Our local climate has been mild this past year, and we previously have been able to have strong producing cherry trees in our yard (and our neighbors have too), although that was about 17 years ago.

Can anybody advise as to what is going on or what I can do? We would love to be able to one year harvest these cherries. Thanks!

Answer 1

It sounds as if you’ve done what was needed. You state that they have been fertilized. Is it possible that too much was used and the roots were burned? Have the trees leafed out at all? If they have leaves, everything is probably ok. It usually takes 3 years for a tree to become established and attain it’s normal growth rate. If the trees haven’t leafed out, I’d get in touch with the vendor.