Struggling with our trees

pcollett1990 · May 2020

Hi,

For a couple of seasons I have had little success with my fruit trees and this year has been no exception.
The main tree to suffer is a plum tree that seems to be able to just about produce leaves which die quite quickly and it doesn’t produce any fruit. It is significantly covered in lichen.
We also have a couple of apple and pear trees but the fruit is covered in black spots and doesn’t look very appealing at all.
Our other tree which is some sort of nut tree had been doing well in previous seasons but this year as soon as the leaves appeared they blackened and fell off.

After a very disappointing season last year I went to the garden centre and was advised to use a winter spray and wrap the trunks of the trees in the sticky tape (can’t remember it’s name) I did this with fairly minimal success.

I am fairly sure the trees have scab but I am not sure being very new to looking after fruit trees.
I am very eager to help my trees get better and very eager to take any advice, I am worried about them and not sure they will survive another season.

I have only put up one photo, as a new user I am restricted, this is of the nut tree. I will put up more photos when I can.

Thank you in advance.

pcollett1990 · May 2020

The first two are of the nut tree and the second two are of the plum tree

amancalledgeorge · May 2020

They look so butchered I can't see how they'd recover to be strong trees. I'd cut my losses and replace them. We arrived to our current place nearly three years ago with a very old apple tree that had been left to go wild for decades and thankfully our tree surgeon sorted it out and has been doing really well.
At the same time we removed a ghastly sycamore that had self seeded at some point and was about twenty meters high and depriving the back of the garden of light and nutrients. Only worth keeping trees that are healthy or offer something.

Hostafan1 · May 2020

I think the butchered one is / was a walnut, and the blackening is just frost damage.

Skandi · May 2020

I'm with Hosta on that that's a walnut that got hit by a late frost it will come back though if the size it is now is the size you want a tree there a walnut is not going to be a good choice, it will always want to be a huge tree.

if the plum isn't even flowering I would probably just tear it out. the black spots on the apples are probably apple scab which isn't generally a huge problem, make sure to clear up under the trees each winter and never let old apples lie around, there are things you can spray with against it, I believe you need to spray around flowering, but your Garden center will be better able to advise than me, as I personally don't mind a few spots on the apples.

pcollett1990 · May 2020

Thank you very much for your advice everyone. Unfortunately the nut tree had grown a bit wild when we moved in and a man from the electricity had to come and take it down significantly because of the cable that was running through the middle of it. Fingers crossed it might recover.

I have attached a couple more photos of the plum tree leaves

Just to see if you think there is any point in trying to save it?

Here are a few photos of the fruit appearing on another one of the fruit trees that also doesn't seem to be doing very well. Any ideas what I can do about this? Thanks again!

rachelQrtJHBjb · May 2020

The walnut wants to be a big tree. Your predecessor put it in the wrong place if it needs a butchering every time it grows near the overhead cables, which it will. I would cut your losses and remove it, planting a new one elsewhere if you want a walnut.

I'm sorry, I can't answer the fruit question.

Struggling with our trees

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