Marianne's Response
Yoshino Cherry Tree
I have 2 new Yoshino Cherry trees that are replacing our cut down silver maples and I’ve noticed that the 2 small trees have problems. 1 tree has lots of small holes on the leaves and they eventually fall off. From my thinking, it has to be aphids but when I went to check, there weren’t any of them on the underside of the leaves. The other tree has some small holes but not as many as the other, and none of its leaves have fallen.
Posted by Bryce Thomas on July 5, 2018
Marianne's Response
Holes in the foliage does not sound like aphid. Instead you may have caterpillars that hide on the back of the foliage and match the color of the leaves. The trees look small enough that you can remove the most damaged leaves and any caterpillars you find. Spray the underside and top of the leaves with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) if the problem persists and if the tree loses more than a third of it's leaves due to the pests reach for stronger pesticides container pyrethrum or rotenone. There is another possibility that your cherry trees have a fungal infection called shot hole disease. If you do not find any caterpillars, worms or other insects then suspect this leaf disease instead. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti
