Help with my plum and pear trees needed

[Plum Tuckered Out]

I recently bought a new plum tree and planted it about a month and a half ago, while there are new leaves on the trunk of the tree no leaves have come out on the branches... do I need to prune the branches for the leaves to grow and if so how much? Also, my 2 yr old Asian pear has leaves on perhaps half of its branches do the bare ones need to be pruned? My Bartlett pear has tons of leaves!! Help!!

[Newt]

Hi Plum Tuckered Out,

I just love your name! Unfortunately there isn't enough info here for us to be very helpful. Did the nursery plant this tree or did you? If they planted it there should be a warranty, usually about a year. I don't know what the warranty would be if you are the one to plant it.

Without knowing how you planted your trees, how often and deeply you watered, how deeply the tree is planted, if you fertilized (a 'no, no' for newly planted trees and shrubs) and if and how you mulched it would be difficult to say what is going on.

...there are new leaves on the trunk of the tree no leaves have come out on the branches.

Maybe the top is grafted, the graft failed and the top died and now the rootstock is sprouting. Do you see any line on the trunk of the tree above where the leaves are growing that could indicate a graft?

...do I need to prune the branches for the leaves to grow and if so how much?

No, branches are pruned to remove dead wood, to insure the direction of growth or to thin the tree.

Also, my 2 yr old Asian pear has leaves on perhaps half of its branches do the bare ones need to be pruned?

Are the dead branches on one side of the tree only or spread throughout the canopy? On one side could suggest verticillium wilt or some type of trauma, possibly root damage to that side of the tree.

How about some pictures of your trees?

Newt

[Pagagulf]

I planted two plum trees (Bruce and Methley) in early - mid March and there are only leaves on the trunk and for the past two weeks are all wilted. I did use some Miracle growth soil to mix under the roots... could that be the problem? I have two pear trees, a necturine tree not far from these and they are growing like crazy, along with a fig tree and it's doing great too. I do not want to loose these two plum trees and wondering what I can do to help them? My girl friend told me I needed to push all the mulch away from around the plant so they could get more air??? (Never heard that before.. but I'm trying it). Any suggestions would be welcomed! I read somewhere about some plum wilt disease and am hoping they do not have that. Thanks so much!!!

[Newt]

Hi Pagagulf,

Since you just planted these trees I suspect the wilt is caused by not enough or too much water and/or the use if Miracle Grow soil. Was this garden soil or potting soil, which isn't soil at all but peat moss based growing medium that contains synthetic fertilizer? The fertilizer can burn the roots of your trees. Newly planted trees and shrubs should not be fertilized for 6 months after planting, if at all!

Other possibilities could be the tree is planted too deep and the rootflare is buried, roots were damaged during transplant, tree was rootbound and can't take up water and/or too much mulch as your girl friend suggested.

Since I don't know how you planted or have cared for your tree, here's sites on how to plant, water and mulch so you can see if you did it properly.
http://www.arborday.org/trees/video/howtoplant.cfm
http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/pla...ees/f1147w.htm
http://www.mortonarb.org/deeptreeroots/rec.html
http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/rootg...ontainers.html
http://www.treesaregood.com/treecare/mulching.aspx
http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/water/az1298/

Newt