I inherited a sour cherry (Morello, maybe) when I moved here in 2001. It was in awful shape, thought I'd have to cut it down. Pruned it, opened it up, spent a couple of years getting rid of disease and bugs and fertilizing it. It rewarded me with great crops of cherries, year after year...as long as I kept the war against the cherry worms and canker going. I skipped last year and it shows. The trunk is nearly girdled with canker at the base and I've had to cut away about a fourth of the branches, which died back over the winter. The tree still looks decent, even though there are signs of exterior decay, like mossy bark and potato bugs. Should I finally give up? Any recommendations on treating the canker, or is it probably too late? This is actually a very mature tree, so I won't cry for long as I chop it down and put a Chinese Chestnut in its place. First, perhaps another year or so?
