I gave it another round of root stimulator Friday evening. The leaves are really struggling to come out. The ones on the lower branches are a little farther along than those up top, but that makes sense since it’s less distance from root to leaf/branch. 

It looks like the tree is sending the majority of its energy  to the berry buds. It’s alive, but it’s not happy, which is odd because it typically loves where it’s at (plenty of sun, etc.).

All the Amur chokecherries in the neighborhood are in full bloom, and the shrubs & trees around it are doing well (the azaleas are late, but that’s likely due to temps).

That’s a long way of saying “not much change/improvement.”

Thanks,

Mike

By “another round of root stimulant” I should clarify that’s another gallon of the diluted solution (3 tbs/gallon). 

Last year I sprayed it with fungicide (Earth’s Ally Diseaee Control) when it got rust and put two spikes of Jobe’s fertilizer in the ground (the recommended dose for the size of the tree) hoping that would help it out. should add that i also sprayed what I could reach with Neem’s oil and gave it some fertilizer for flowering shrubs/trees a few weeks ago. 

Given how much it liked where it was and had tremendous growth, I’m curious if the spikes threw the ground chemistry off, or if the tree is just reeling from the effects of the rust.  I read that can make a plant lose its vigor, but I can’t find much on what it dies to trees post infection/leaf loss. The grass and everything else in its vicinity are growing normally (within a 6-10 ft radius are 2 lilacs, 2 azaleas, a rose bush, an hydrangea, 2 mock oranges, a crabapple tree, and a Rocky Mountain maple sapling). 

I had a guy from Tall Trees come out and he didn’t see any signs of disease and thought it was likely root related somehow. He mentioned that roots could get knotted and tangled. Does that ring true in this case? Anyway, he was the one that suggested the root stimulant.

At this point I’m not even sure whether the flowering fertilizer or the root hormone are what worked. And I’m afraid if I throw any other medicine at it, I will do more harm than good. 

Re: the roots, there isn’t anything in the immediate vicinity that would be blocking enough to cause issues.

I just went out and checked on it. The flowers are trying to open up (transitioning from green balls to white). The leaves aren’t doing much but at this point I’m not expecting them to. I’ll hold off on additional treatments for a while and see how it does. Given the weather this summer I’m not worried about it getting enough water. 

Thanks for all your help!