Do trees die of old age

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beech1948

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Hi all,

I wondered if anyone can help me.

I am having a small panic that a few trees in my gardens have died this winter. Both are 35 yr old cherries. Both look fine. The leaves never showed any sign of disease. They just did not sprout new leaves this spring. A third cherry is looking a bit thin and has not sprouted new leaves on part of it. These are all in a line across the front of the house.

My wife , wise woman, says that trees just die off like older humans..?? But really ??.
 
Don't know about yours, but tress, like everything die eventually - yep old age
 
Hi Beech1948

Yes trees do have a natural lifespan, which can range form a few tens of years for many species, through to many hundreds of years for such stalwarts like oak and American redwoods.

Most cherries last for about 40 years, although there will always be exceptions. An interesting article here may help spread more light.

Dennis
 
Jordan and others ,
Thanks for link. I have just also telephoned RHS at Wisley who have also confirmed that Cherries last about 35 to 50 years. I gues I have always thought all trees have a very long life span. Well I guess thats another misconception dispelled.

regards
Alan
 
What kind of cherry is it? (he asks, in a cunning Japanesey way) :D The "default" cherry tree in Japan (and, for example, in the famous Washington park), is the Somei Yoshino. I guess they may be the global standard. They only last the aforementioned 50 years or so, but there are hundreds of species of flowering cherries, some of which can keep going for thousands of years by all accounts. The Somei Yoshino is something of a manufactured hybrid, specifically bred for nice flowers. The older mountain varieties are quite a lot hardier, and more elegant IMHO. They'd do well in the UK, I'd have thought. The cherry trees around where I live, for example, aren't the standard ones, but are instead a less in-your-face variety that flowers slightly later than normal. They're just making itty-bitty little cherries at the moment.
 
Chiba,
Thanks for message. I have no idea what kind of cherry except that they once produced a wonderful band of white blossom across the front of my house. Each one flowering just before the previous one faded. Now three of seven are dead and I they have left a few gaps which will need to be replaced.

I was once in Japan for 3 months negotiating a contract with Richoh. They took me on a tour of Japan just as the cherry blossom appeared in Tokyo, to later blossoms on mountains near Kyoto and then on a trip to Sendai in northern Japan. It was a magical trip for me being half business, half pleasure and all paid for by someone else. :D :D :D .

regards

Alan
 

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