Branches, buds & bad bark: Why are the leaves on my apple & pear

9 years ago

Why are the leaves on my apple & pear trees shriveling up and dying?

Hello. My wife and I moved into a house in New Brunswick, Canada, about 18 months ago. We inherited a large yard with an apple and pear (I think?) tree (one of each). Neither has been properly taken care of in a long, long time; they're in rough condition.

Both trees recently bloomed, and are already losing their leaves. The formerly green leaves are shriveling up, curling inwards and turning brown. There are also galls forming on the leaves of the pear tree, a white substance oozing out of a cut branch, and insects laying white and yellow eggs.

I have no experience with fruit trees, and can't match the symptoms with those I've found online for diseases such as fire blight. I've attached a photo here where you can see the condition of the leaves.

We're wondering whether the trees should be kept or removed. Thank you!

I've posted a photo album of the trees, with close-ups of the trunk, bark, leaves and insects. See the link below ...

Here is a link that might be useful: Apple and Pear Tree Photos

This post was edited by lukez on Fri, Jun 13, 14 at 18:27

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Comments (3)

2010champsbcs
9 years ago
Lukez. It doesn't look like an apple or a pear tree. Appears to be a stone fruit such as a cherry or even a plum. In either case it is in bad condition. Bill
Scott F Smith
9 years ago
They both look like plums of some sort, they are not sweet or sour cherries. Lets go through some of the problems.

The little black bugs and yellow eggs are ladybug larvae and eggs. Those are the "good guys" eating the aphids, don't pull them off.

The dead looking branches are probably due to brown rot blossom blight. It will feel slippery when wet if its brbb.

The holes in the leaves are some form of shot hole.

The galls are probably from some kind of mite.

Its hard to tell what the long-term chances of the trees are but they need to get on a spray program if you want to keep them. Read up on these diseases/pests and their treatment, ask more questions if you have them!

Scott
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lukez
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you for the responses!

The trees didn't develop any fruit last year, so we weren't able to identify them. Can't believe we thought the big one was an apple tree.

The BRBB and shot hole diagnoses seem spot in.

With this information, we're considering taking down the large tree and trying to keep the small one. The large tree is just such a mess of old, old wood, moss, oozing bits, etc. that it appears past the point of no return.

For the small one, should we prune out all diseased & dying growth?