Dead cherry tree question

[DrWu]

Hi there Our cherry tree mysteriously died 2 years back. This weekend I plan to dig it out and plant another tree (probably a smaller acer this time) My concern is: could whatever killed the cherry affect the new tree? The tree is in the middle of a small, sunny south facing lawn. The soil is a bit heavy/clayish but not too bad. The old cherry began to blossom one spring then just stopped suddenly and dried up. Any advice would be very gratefully received! Steve

[Robinia]

I'm no expert but I do know that pruning at the wrong time can cause problems with cherries. Had you pruned it during the winter or very early spring? Try & take out some old soil out & work some fresh topsoil/soil improver in before you replant.

[DrWu]

Nope Noddy, never pruned the thing, never even looked at it the wrong way! I will probably just dig in a load of fresh soil/compost as you suggest. (if I can get the bloody roots dug up of the dead cherry!)

[apricot]

Is it possible that the roots could have been damaged if not by you then by next door perhaps? The roots will spread out as far as the tree is tall. I have lost a few trees/large shrubs in one particular bed and am now not purchasing anything to replace them but taking freebies from friends until I am confident the bed is OK. Make sure your new acer will not produce fertile seedlings. My garden is absolutely covered with sycamore seedlings, so many it looks like cress. I did think of offering the local children 1p for every seedling but don't have time to organise another mortgage. Good Luck

[Robinia]

Well you can sleep with a clear conscience DrWu! If you really need an explanation you could try Gardeners World advice ...http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/advice/experts/ Type in cherry in the keyword box & there are a couple of items there that might help.

[DrWu]

Once again thanks for the help It actually looks like bacterial canker from the info on the BBC site. Too late to do anything about it though since the tree is seriously dead!