Several issues appear to be occurring at once, though all are relatively common, and not all are directly treatable. Unfortunately, despite their popularity, cherries are relatively short-lived compared to some other flowering and shade trees, and various stresses typical of suburban conditions contribute to their vulnerability to pests and diseases, plus susceptibility to environmental damage (such as from over-saturated soil, which they do not tolerate well).

The holes in the foliage are due to Cherry Shot Hole disease, an infection caused by either bacteria or fungi and whose symptoms between the two are not distinguishable visually. The reason it may matter which pathogen is responsible is because very few fungicides have any impact on bacterial pathogens. Still, using a fungicide would be a method of last resort since these chemicals could potentially have adverse affects on other organisms and may not work well to prevent disease every year, even if applied as directed. Fungicides are preventative measures only -- they cannot cure existing disease -- and chemical management of a disease like this requires early-season application and repeated re-applications in order to try to suppress infection for the entire growing season. While the impacts of this infection can be dramatic and an eyesore, trees do seem to recover enough to leaf-out normally the following year. It's possible repeated years of heavy infection that cause premature defoliation will eventually impact bloom abundance and overall tree vigor, though it would be hard to separate the impacts of this ailment from every other that might co-occur and weaken the tree.

Gummosis, the oozing sap, can appear from general stress, insect wood-boring attacks, or pathogens infecting the sapwood (the wood just under the bark). It's not easy to determine the exact cause of gummosis, though a foul smell to the sap would suggest a bacterial pathogen. Sawdust particles within the gummosis would suggest borers, but fungal pathogens and stress are still possibilities. Neither an insect nor pathogen culprit would be treatable at that point.

Dead branch tips (those we see with wilted, dark brown foliage) could be infected with Brown Rot or the smaller twigs on those branches might be suffering from delayed impacts of last year's periodical cicada egg-laying damage. In either case, they would need to be trimmed off.

Gray-green patches growing on the bark surface are lichen, a harmless organism that does not cause tree decline. If they increase in number over time, it's because conditions have improved for their growth due to more light reaching the bark because of the thinning-out of the tree's canopy.

The tree doesn't have the best branching structure, unfortunately, though at this point there is little that can be done about it since some of the branch unions are too major to cut. All this means is that the tree might be more vulnerable to storm damage and splitting along the lines of the weaker unions. Included Bark is a condition where a fissure of bark being pushed together by neighboring branches grows down into the trunk crotch instead of into a ridge outside of it, and this creates a weak point; if any gummosis originates there, that may be a sign of trouble. We mention this because it looks like the main point where the major branches split off the trunk have included bark between them, given how narrow that angle is, though it's hard to tell for certain. Having the tree evaluated by a certified arborist wouldn't be a bad idea, though there is little they can do about certain ailments other than make a more concrete diagnosis. Some arborists are employed by tree-care companies while others consult independently, and you don't necessarily need to perform any treatment regimen they recommend.

Premature leaf shed before autumn can be very common among cherries, and indicates tree stress. The cause of that stress is harder to determine and can be due to one or several overlapping factors. For instance, cherries don't do well in wet soil (any roof downspout outlets emptying into its root zone? regular irrigation?) and frequent foot traffic compacting soil over its roots will impede drainage, adding to the oxygen depravation that can stress roots. Roots that can't function properly may trigger leaf loss to help the tree conserve resources. In general, leaf drop later in the growing season is less detrimental to overall tree health because the plant had all season to photosynthesize and store carbohydrates to fuel the start of next year's growth. We have seen some trees, including cherries, become fairly defoliated even by late July or August and still resume growth normally the following year. If practical, rake-up what fallen leaves you can and dispose of them to potentially reduce some of the overwintering spores, though this isn't a foolproof way to prevent infection in future years. The severity of infection sometimes varies with the weather, since wet leaf surfaces are more vulnerable to infection, so outbreaks might not be as drastic every year.

Miri