Black Knot Fungus

When we bought our house three years ago one of the things we liked most about the property was the abundance of mature trees on a city lot. The tree closest to the front window was beautiful - about 30 feet tall with large curly branches full of leaves. We had no idea what it was. I noticed some black "knots" in a few places but figured it was a natural part of the tree. Each year the number of knots increased and the number of leaves dramatically decreased. Last year Hubby put in a shade perennial garden in the front where all the trees provided so much shade that grass didn't grow. Not so much shade this year - guess it's an all sun garden now. We finally came to the realization the tree is very sick. Today an official arborist came for a house call. Good news - we finally know it's a Chokecherry. Bad news - it has Black Knot fungus. And it's at the point of no return. Bonus bad news - we'll be paying $300 for tree and stump removal. Bonus good news - a trip to the nursery to buy a new tree (or is that super bonus bad news because I doubt new trees, at least the ones of any substantial size, are less than a gigillion dollars).

Here's the tree in the background with Sassy's volleyball team last September - lots of bare branches but some leaves.

And today - I think I can count all the leaves on both hands.


The offending fungus close up -