Cherry Blossom sapling broke in half... Can it be saved? (landscape, grown)

[taimaishu]

Not exactly sure how this happened, but it looks like someone broke it in half intentionally. Maybe the guys who came to cut my lawn? No idea. I don't think the wind could have pull this off.

Both the support stick and the sapling broken. I grab some tape and decided to tape it back together and see if it will somehow survive. The leaves so far do not look droopy at all. So good sign?

Judging by the leaves, looks like it was done no more than an hour before I spotted it?

[Zoisite]

That is a really bad break. Is the top section still attached to the bottom section by a strip of bark along the back side? How long ago did that happen? The top leaves do look healthy but it's not uncommon with broken cherry sticks for the leaves to stay healthy looking for quite a while after a break.

The bottom section below the break will survive but I think the plant needs lots more water, that soil looks dry as a bone. Cherries need plenty of water and if they get too dry as saplings they can go brittle and break too easily. Now that it is broken it will need more water to help prevent shock.

If the broken top is still attached to the bottom by a strip of bark there is a (slim) chance the top might survive .... but .... It needs to be bound with tape more firmly at the break and the stake needs to be positioned closer to be in contact with the trunk and bound in several places along the full length of the stake. You need the stake to be in firm physical contact right along the whole length of the trunk so that it completely supports and takes up all weight in such a manner that there is no flexibility or movement possible along the trunk. Like firmly splinting a broken bone.

IF it was mine I would also cut off the top third of the sapling to take some weight and stress off the main trunk, and I'd try to root the top third cutting in a pot of soil to make a clone. If you do that, in this particular case do NOT remove any of the leaves from the cutting. Cherries are fairly easy to make clones out of, either by putting the cut end of the stick into water until you see it has grown roots, or else by putting the end of the stick into a pot of soil to take root. It must have plenty of water so that the soil is always evenly moist but not saturated.

Good luck with your cherry saplings. Maybe somebody else with more experience with broken cherries may have some other advice that is more helpful.

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[taimaishu]

Not sure when it happened. I'm guessing Monday afternoon / evening. When the lawnscaper came by. Strong winds did occure at around 6pm.

I discovered this on Tuesday at about 11am.

Day 2 update: Tree still looks okay!

Originally, the stake was next to the sapling as you can see in pic #1 and #2. I'm not sure how the stake broke also at the same location at the cherry tree. I'm guessing the landscaper hit it with the edger.

[taimaishu]

8-9 days later. Leaves are still green. Looks like it will survive. Will remove the tape in a month or so and see if it healed itself.

[bigbear99]

This is essentially like grafting, so you might look for advice on grafting cherries. 1 month may not be long enough.

[taimaishu]

Update. I removed the blue tape 3 days ago. NO SIGNS OF DAMAGE. Wow! This cherry is a fast healer.