My weeping cherry has almost no blooms on it for the second year. (photos attached, hopefully)

Madeline C
by Madeline C
  18 answers
  • 360 Sod (Donna Dixson) 360 Sod (Donna Dixson) on Mar 20, 2012
    I don't see your picture Madeline, can you try again to post them? What part of the country do you live in?
  • Madeline C Madeline C on Mar 20, 2012
    hopefully I have pictures with my question now. I live in Chapel Hill N.C. We have a lot of clay here, but neighbors have beautiful, blooming cherries right now, so I think I have a tree with other problems.....I welcome any and all thoughts.
  • Madeline C Madeline C on Mar 20, 2012
    ok, I'm trying one more time! gotta get more computer literate:(
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Mar 20, 2012
    Madeline, has your cherry ever flowered well, or has this been the situation since you planted it? If so, it is possibly just that your tree is a late bloomer as it were. Some trees simply reach blooming age later than others. I don't know what fertilization your lawn gets, but it is also possible too much nitrogen-rich fertilizer has gotten in your tree's root zone. An excess of nitrogen encourages leaf growth at the expense of fruit development. A third possibility is that some of the buds were nipped by frost. Look and see if there are buds that are there but dried up. If your tree is growing and otherwise seems healthy, I wouldn't worry about this a great deal. Eventually it should bloom as beautifully as your neighbors' trees.
  • Madeline C Madeline C on Mar 21, 2012
    Thank you for the suggestions but this doesn't answer my question because
  • Madeline C Madeline C on Mar 21, 2012
    thanks Doug. No frost this winter. This is the 2nd year that I've had it and last year it looked the same; pitiful! I don't remember that the leaves were particularly plentiful last year due to too much nitrogen. Also there is a mound around the base so it wouldn't get lawn fertilizer, I would think. Hopefully you're right and it's just a late bloomer
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Mar 22, 2012
    Madeline, how deep is the mound around the base? It's not good for mulch to be piled up around the trunk. It should be a few inches away, not touching.
  • Erica Glasener Erica Glasener on Mar 24, 2012
    Madeline, I have a friend with a weeping cherry that is not blooming much. Is it possible it got too dry? You could have had some of it die back due to drying out. Douglas has a good suggestion to check for buds, you can also scratch the bark on twigs to see if it is still green. I would wait before pruning. When it leafs out then you will know what parts are still alive. Make sure to keep it watered during dry periods. Good luck.
  • Madeline C Madeline C on Mar 24, 2012
    Last year, the first, I had a tree waterer around the base so it got a good root soaking. Also, the mulch is not piled up around the base.
  • 360 Sod (Donna Dixson) 360 Sod (Donna Dixson) on Mar 24, 2012
    What time of year did you purchase your tree, was it in the heat of summer? Do you remember if the place you bought it from had it sitting on concrete or hot pavement? It sounds like you are doing all the right things to keep your tree happy Madeline. If you planted it without sinking the root ball below the level of the ground, given it good soil and adequate water, the only think left for you to possibly do is to fertilize, though that won't help for this year it may for next year.
  • Walter Reeves Walter Reeves on Mar 25, 2012
    My observation is the "Plants bloom when they are happy and established." You seem to have done the right things for maintenance so all I can guess is that the root system has taken so much energy growing large that it has taken the tree's mind off blooming this season. If it is covered with leaves this growing season I feel sure it will bloom next year.
  • Madeline C Madeline C on Mar 25, 2012
    I bought the tree in the spring and I'm pretty sure it was sitting on concrete (it was in front of home depot). I'll watch to see how much it leafs Walter. Thanks
  • Walter Reeves Walter Reeves on Mar 26, 2012
    In my experience, spring planted trees have a harder time establishing a good root system than do fall-planted ones. That could explain it.
  • Madeline C Madeline C on Mar 26, 2012
    Thanks for all the feedback folks. I guess I'll go by the 3 year rule--sleep,creep then leap! Next year is #3!
    • Sean Sean on Apr 13, 2015
      Hi Madeline, it's been a few years now and was wondering how your weeping cherry has done. I have one that looks like your photo.
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Mar 27, 2012
    I've found that rule to be very accurate, Madeline. Good luck!
  • Laurel Eppstein Laurel Eppstein on May 05, 2015
    I planted a weeping cherry 25 years ago, in Kalamazoo, MI. It has bloomed beautifully until the last two years, when just a few blooms graced a few lower branches. It has been bitterly cold, so I'm thinking that may be the reason for lack of blooms. I'm in the country; I've seen weeping cherries blooming beautifully in town.
  • AL. RAMOS AL. RAMOS on Jun 14, 2015
    NO bees to pollinate them cuz I have the same problem with the hot pepper plaints that the mockingbirds plant alone side my fence. They never gave peppers for two years so I pulled them out and threw them away and hope that GMO's stop killing the bees so that my plants grown peppers..
  • Luisa Campbell-Cox Luisa Campbell-Cox on Mar 29, 2022

    I have one that is nearly 15 and has not ever had flowers yet. Beautiful tree still, but the pink weeping flowers was the basis of my desire for it