[ady22]

My girlfriend is the green-fingered one.I just wanted another opinion.We had a pear tree down the allotment and moved it into our new flat/garden. it's only about 3 feet tall, anyway it seemed to get through winter but didn't sprout any new leaves or anything in Springtime, Bam Bam (her nickname) claims it isn't dead, but I dunno.could it be that the soil was so bad in our new garden that it's killed it? don't we need to give it time to establish it's roots again? should we take it out and put loads of what? in the soil then re-plant it. any feedback is appreciated.

Happy gardening for 2009!

Ady.

[barney rubble]

Has it got anything resembling buds on its branches at all?  Although all my fruit trees seem to be OK this spring, it was very noticable when shopping at the garden centres and B & Q in particular, that all the new stocks of fruit trees they'd got in were bare branches - not a leaf or blossom in sight, and I wondered if they had had the chiller treatment to delay their growth as mine were already sprouting.
I'd give your pear tree a bit longer, and even another year to see what happens. It might just have hibernated because of the shock of the move. Good luck with it

[SG6]

If no buds and leaves by this time I suspect the worst.
My fruit trees have all flowered and sprouted full leaves now.
 
You say it seemed to get through the winter. What makes you say that? I would have assumed that it had no leaves or growth and so looked dead over the winter.
 
When did you move it.
Was it dug up and replanted the same day?
Did it sit around getting dry at all, even a few hours?
What is the soil in your garden like?
When moved did you water it regularily?
 
Other then waiting the only thing I can think of is to prune it at a couple of places and see if the cut is into dead wood or if it still has some life.
 
If dead I would suspect that it got dry and the small fine terminal roots died. These are the ones that get nutrients and moisture from the soil and if they go then the plant has a hard time as it needs to regrow more which takes nutrients that it cannot get as it has no fine terminal roots.

[ady22]

Has it got anything resembling buds on its branches at all?  Although all my fruit trees seem to be OK this spring, it was very noticable when shopping at the garden centres and B & Q in particular, that all the new stocks of fruit trees they'd got in were bare branches - not a leaf or blossom in sight, and I wondered if they had had the chiller treatment to delay their growth as mine were already sprouting.
I'd give your pear tree a bit longer, and even another year to see what happens. It might just have hibernated because of the shock of the move. Good luck with it

No it hasn't got anything resembling buds on its branches at all. thanks for the input.

[ady22]

If no buds and leaves by this time I suspect the worst.
My fruit trees have all flowered and sprouted full leaves now.
 
You say it seemed to get through the winter. What makes you say that? I would have assumed that it had no leaves or growth and so looked dead over the winter.
 
When did you move it.
Was it dug up and replanted the same day?
Did it sit around getting dry at all, even a few hours?
What is the soil in your garden like?
When moved did you water it regularily?
 
Other then waiting the only thing I can think of is to prune it at a couple of places and see if the cut is into dead wood or if it still has some life.
 
If dead I would suspect that it got dry and the small fine terminal roots died. These are the ones that get nutrients and moisture from the soil and if they go then the plant has a hard time as it needs to regrow more which takes nutrients that it cannot get as it has no fine terminal roots.

I say it seems to have got through the winter because we moved here in June and it prob arrived in the coming weeks ie; JUL/AUG there was leaves, if i remember correctly but they went away and then bambam pruned it back a bit, then i expected it to pick up again in FEB/MAR but it hasn't it may have not gone in the ground as quick as it should have, i can't fully remember tbh.I'd say the soil in our garden is fairy chalky and not so rich in nutrients, but im no expert, all her other stuff seems to be doing ok. I think it got watered fairly regularly.

[ady22]

October 2008.

[iwantanallotment]

I'd go with Barney Rubble (ha, Barney Rubble and Bam Bam in one post!)

Give it more time...it's had a big move and early days yet, trees can sulk bigtime 

You moved it in June & it was alive in Oct - so chances are it is still  Just let it sulk a bit.

[Rangerkris]

Is there any bend in the branch's of the tree or are they snappy if they bend quite a way it might still be ok.  If it snaps and there dry ermm it might have not made it.  If it snaps feel for water between the bark and the sapwood

[gobs]

October 2008.

Moving fruit trees in the summer is a bad move. If it looks alive, does not necessarily mean it's 'alive'. Such small/dwarf trees generally are not recommended to be grown in lawn as they do not compete well, you need a crown width but at least a meter circle of free ground space, manured around the trunk. Try that and water well in dry spells, to see if you can help - though as said, if the branches are all dead, you might as well chuck it - if you find live wood in the crown.

[Trillium]

First determine if it's still alive. With a fingernail, scratch the bark gently until you can see the layer beneath. If it's green, the tree is alive and recovering. If it's brown/yellow, then it's dead. If it's green, let us know and we can figure what else to do.