Am I dying?

Hello my name is 'Prunus Blaze' and I am not sure how old I am, but probably less than 10yrs. I have had new owners for 3 years now and every spring I have grown beautiful cherry red leaves with pink blossom which I have heard them say looks lovely.

Everything was going really well until spring this year. I grew my leaves as normal and flowered too, but then suddenly about 2 months ago I suddenly dropped all my leaves. Am I dying? I feel very depressed. My mistress says my smaller branches seem very brittle. I have a few old dead leaves clinging on for grim life. Oh dear oh dear, what is happeneing to me? :( :confused:

 

It sounds very much like a fungal infection called Wilt (for obvious reasons!) http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0302/blossom_wilt.asp

 

I can't see any evidence of a fungal infection. The bark looks normal and uneffected.

Is it possible that it simply hasn't got enough moisture? It is at the front of the house(north facing). I've given it a drenching but to be honest it would seem strange that a tree that age would suddenly be effected by something like this.

 

To see wilt you need to slice across a branch and look if there is any purple/brown staining in the inside. Even a small branch would show it.
Obviously lack of water would make a tree suffer, but then one would expect every tree in the garden to do the same thing. As for watering it, well just remember that tree roots go down about a third as far as the tree goes up, so to get water to the roots where it is needed you either have to drill a hole in the soil and keep it filled with water, or you have to put hundreds of gallons on. If the tree does not regrow leaves next spring then it has died, sorry.
I wish there was something positive I could suggest for you to do.

 

I had a look at a cross section of smallish branch and it just looked a pinky/peachy colour.Not really purple or brown.

It's such a shame if it's dead as it's lovely colour was a real feature outside the front. I do have a much smaller 'Crab' with red leaves, pink blossom and small fruit that I could move to replace it in time. It's been in the ground a couple of years. When would be the time to move it if the other tree has really died. I've never moved a small tree before.

 

For my two pennyworth - I would agree with Palustris. Get some water down to its roots, and keep watering til late autumn, and then see what happens in the spring.

Trees drop their leaves as protection when they are under pressure - and it may be that particular spot in the garden is dry - from other more established trees, or something in the particular area. We have had little rain this winter and indeed this spring, and even my clay garden is showing signs of drought (and thats with a bit of watering).

 

I've given all the shrubs around the tree a good prune today. I didn't realise how overgrown and tangled they were. I've also weeded and pulled out loads of smaller things that weren't doing well. I'll be watering it frequently for the rest of the summer.

Thankyou for your help.