A bradford pear tree in my front yard (about 7 years old) looked sickly and dead last summer. This spring it seems to have flowered but has very few leaves. Is there any chances of reviving this tree?
I also find that the yews around this tree and the tododendrons nearby keep dying whereas the daisies in the same area seem to be florishing. Is this because of the local soil condition.
I live in Michigan and the house front faces SW and gets plenty of Sun during afternoons.
from your description, it sounds like the soil is not "acid enough" for nutrients to get into the roots.
check ph at the drip lines.. plants need some "acidity" to be able to move the nutrients from the soil. The plants you describe as having trouble need more acidic soil than other plants, and the one you described as doing well gets along OK in less acid soil.
barring disease, the tree will probably be ok if it can get some food into its leaves now - so
1) check soil ph at the drip line,
2) fix the soil, and meanwhile
3) feed the tree leaves directly with foilar fertilizer (miracle gro) each week until you can get the roots able to take up food (miracid sort of works, but don't burn the roots) - it takes a few weeks for the roots to change ph and for hair roots to grow.
------- background - I had a neighbor who ringed her trees with marble chips, and in three years my garden, soil just a bit downhill from the chips, had gone from 6.5 to ph 8. Marigolds did ok, but the rest of it looked pretty sad. The local U and the garden center people were scratching their heads. (they didn't realize that marble is aged pressed limestone)
The "circle of ill" kept getting bigger, and I was acidifying the soil pretty good with lawn amendments. The only thing that kept them alive was "miracle gro" foilar fertilizer Then she moved, and the next guy took out the marble, and now after three years, all is ok and ph is back down in the acid range.
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