Worried cherry blossom tree damaged / dying

Hi, we’ve had a gorgeous row of cherry blossom trees along our road for as long as we’ve lived in this house (25yrs). A guy who lives a few doors along took it upon himself a few weeks ago to pull the ivy off the trunks of 3 of the trees, one of which is directly in front of our house. This tree now looks like it’s dying at least on one side as all the leaves have fallen off one side, the other side is still full of leaves. The bark doesn’t look in great condition with large chunks missing where he’s pulled the ivy off. Another tree further along the road where he’s pulled the ivy off doesn’t have any leaves left. I’ll be absolutely devastated if the tree in front of us dies, it’s so big and full of blossom in Spring. Any advice on how to maybe protect the trunk or reassurance would be much appreciated.

 

We have street trees that look very similar, possibly in age as well, as you say flowering cherries.
Ours have been dying for about 10 yrs, the council remove them as they die and plant some pretty awful modern upright pale flowered things that look awful but I guess they are less likely to disrupt the paving or need maintenance.

I dont think he's done any damage to the bark removing the ivy looking at your picture, the trees have probably had a dry summer and shedding leaves a bit earlier than normal.

 

Thank you for your reply. I did wonder if the dry Spring / Summer has had an impact on the leaves falling early aswell, I really hope that’s the case and the tree survives many more years. It’s just a bit worrying that the ones which have lost the leaves are the ones where the ivy has been pulled off.
Yes we have lost a couple of smaller trees along our road aswell over the years and our council haven’t replaced them at all sadly.

 

If you're in one of those very dry, hotter areas @Anon74, that certainly affects the foliage and it'll drop earlier.
It's possible that the ivy has been holding the bark together, and therefore keeping the trees healthy enough to thrive. The fact that this man has removed it, is perhaps the reason for the problem now.
I know you probably wouldn't want to do it, but - he has no right to touch the trees if they're on public land, and not on his own property, so it might be worth checking your deeds etc to see if they are maintained by homeowners, and if not, notifying the council.
As we approach the season of higher winds, and rough weather generally, those trees could potentially be a problem to pedestrians, and that's the kind of approach you could take. You can usually do these things anonymously too, so it's worth thinking about.

 

You will have to wait until next year to see if the trees are still alive. It is possible removing the ivy and bark has 'ringed' the tree which could kill it.

 

Thank you for your reply @fairygirl. We’re in North Yorkshire and it has been very dry, even here, this year which probably hasn’t helped.
That’s my worry, that the ivy has been holding the bark together and protecting the trunk.
I’m so annoyed that he’s taken it upon himself to do this when the trees have been there for decades with ivy growing up and the trees he’s done this to aren’t even in front of his house!
I really don’t want to inform the council as I know they’ll just come and cut the trees down without giving them a chance.
I haven’t spoken to the guy (oldish guy), a neighbour told me he’d done it, but can only assume he has done it as he thought the ivy would kill the trees. He’s left the ivy on the ground at the bottom of the tree. Is there anything I can do to try give it a better chance like removing the ivy from the ground around it, watering the base etc?

 

Thank you for your reply @Goldenlily26. Just wondered if there’s anything I could maybe do to try to help this tree now rather than just waiting and hoping?

 

View of the tree from our windows when it’s been in full bloom. I really will be devastated if it doesn’t survive.

 

If you zoom in on the
picture of the trunk there doesn't appear to be any bark missing
Gum oozing or sap running .
Damage would show as the white smooth wood showing up .

It's fairly old and gnarled but comparing that to the ones just up the road from me I'd say possibly 40 yrs old or more , so rough bark is to be expected.

I remember the ones up the road when first planted and it was in the late 50s, as I said they are dying one by one over the last 10yrs or so of old age.

 

If it has been ring barked there will be nothing you can do. Trees do have a natural life span, as others in the road are dying it may be they are a lot older than you think.
Time will tell.

 

I find it very odd that this man thinks it's ok to just do what he wants if they aren't his property @Anon74 . If he hasn't fully removed the ivy - ie at the roots, then it'll grow back anyway. Maybe he just thought he was 'saving' the trees from it though.
There isn't much you can do - apart from removing the ivy completely at the roots, but yes, if there's serious damage already on the trunks, there isn't much that can be done as it would be too late anyway. It's a shame as they looked lovely in your later pix, but, as @pete says, if there's no obvious damage to the bark, they may just die off gradually due to old age if they've been there a long time.

Many people believe that it's the ivy that causes the damage, but it's often not the case, as the ivy can just colonise something suitable for it to climb, and the damage is there first. It'll grow from dropped seed -often from birds when it's 'been through' them.

 

I'd have no problem with a neighbour removing the ivy from the trunk as long as he has just pulled it off, no hacking away with a sharp tool like an axe etc.

I'd be weary of digging out the ivy roots as these trees are often surface rooting and damage to the roots is likely.

It will take a few years for the ivy to get up the top again, you don't want it in the crown.

 

Yes - it would be hard to remove roots without a good weedkiller, which then causes even more problems @pete! You'd have to just keep snipping it off at the roots and cross your fingers...

 

That’s reassuring that there appears to be no evidence of damage to the bark, thank you for replying again. Hopefully it still has a few more years in it at least.

 

Thank you for your replies. I think he probably did have good intentions and hopefully hasn’t caused any damage, though I still wish he’d just left it.
Just a waiting game now to see what Spring brings!