[tipperary]

We have a Winter Flowering Cherry Blossom in our front garden which was planted just under five years ago. There has been no problems with the tree up to this year.
This year, there are no leaves on the lower limbs of the tree, and some of the smaller twigs do not appear to have any live in them. The higher limbs appear to be fine.
There are a number of other plants nearby which are doing fine, although the laurel hedge about two metres away has a number of holes in the leaves.
Is it possible to identify what is causing the loss of leaves? I have attached some photos of the tree.

[Greengage]

very difficult to tell from pictures, but it seems under stress, Are there any mushrooms growing around the tree, is the stem bleeding a thick oooze, have the leaves holes in them are they curled up some more info might help and a closeup of one of the leaves. was it planted bare rooted or was it in a pot. I already have a theory but need more info before i commit.

[tipperary]

Thank you for your input. There are no mushrooms around the tree, or any signs of illness or oozing on the stem.
The few leaves on the lower branches are curled up, there are no holes visible on these. It was in a pot when it was planted five years ago.
I hope that is enough to verify or rule out your theory.

[tagwex]

That's Crosshaven! Not Tipperary.

[tippben]

Right. To me, that looks like classic symptoms of a root problem, rather than a pest. Is this the first year that this has happened? My initial thoughts are a) disturbance - has anything damaged the root system within 1m of the stem? b) compaction - has the root system been put under pressure by heavy weight, or repeated foot fall? c) Suffocation. It looks exactly like what happens when the root collar of a tree is planted below the soil surface, yet you say it's been in 5 years... Has anything been put on top? d) pollution. has anything gone on the soil like a chemical, oil/diesel etc? unlikely, as your other plants seem ok, but it'd only need to happen once. (edit) When planted from a pot, how long was it in the pot? The roots could've become pot bound.

[tagwex]

[Greengage]

I think it is dying due to drought, now last summer was a scorcher and you never watered it a big tree like that transplanted from a tub needs lots of water to become established, watch this space in 3 years time as large number of newly planted trees will die off due to the same problem, After a long hot spell when the ground dries out it can take up to 3 years before the effects are seen, Had this long discussion with eminent botanist about trees dying from drought and this is his conclusion, the work and effort I put into answering these questions knows no bounds.

[tipperary]

[tagwex]

I travel a lot in my Romany caravan!
I am impressed with you calling yourself tipperary and you living way down in the south of Cork.

[Good guy]

Do you do 'Private Detecting' as a nixer? You'd be good at it!

[tagwex]

[tagwex]

[tagwex]

Just had another thought, this house and driveway is under the road so there may be an element of digging out the natural strata of the soil to achieve the required levels and the builders did their 'best' to make it look right. So things may not be as natural as they should be underground, MAYBE.

[tipperary]

[tagwex]

I will take it as one so, it was just that I could read it both ways.
Well it seems we might be getting somewhere, but you are better off listening to the likes of greengage and tippben for the actual reason than me. I would say yes to your question but as stated, let the experts have their say. Made up ground is not always ideal.