Hello,

I live in Laurel, Maryland and just planted a set of Cherry Trees for the first time. They were Napoleon Royal Ann Sweet Cherry Semi-Dwarf Supreme trees which I got from Stark Bros. Well, after a few weeks in the ground, two of them have been showing zero growth (no foliage, etc.). I went ahead and bought a new tree to take its place and when I dug up the old one that wasn't growing, the roots were covered with ant eggs - I've put a picture in the post of a few ant eggs in the soil.

Any clue if this was the cause of the tree not growing? The soil was fortified with a fair amount compost and I'm not sure what I did wrong with this or the other tree. I haven't pulled the second tree out yet but am pretty sure if I did I'd see the same thing going on at the root. Any recommendations on what to do or treatments? Thanks!

Hmm I don't know about root eating ants (their nesting around them might influence uptake of water, but not the problem I think)

Were they pot grown trees, b&b or bare root? The last two are normally only dug, sold and planted during the dormant season. Did they have leaves to begin with? I guess not

Arico said:Hmm I don't know about root eating ants (their nesting around them might influence uptake of water, but not the problem I think)

Were they pot grown trees, b&b or bare root? The last two are normally only dug, sold and planted during the dormant season. Did they have leaves to begin with? I guess not

I got the trees from Stark Bros - they didnt come b&b, were bare root though the roots were covered with newspaper. No leaves when I received them, planted them back in April. Might having nothing to do with why the tree failed to grow, just thought it might given how many of the ant eggs were on the root and around it.

I don't see anything, what tree?

If they sent a live healthy tree, it should at least have been able to make a few leaves before anything could have killed it, seems to me. April is exactly when trees leaf out here in MD.