"Tyler" wrote in message
news:hFcTc.97975$J06.87448@pd7tw2no...
Hello,

I'm 23, just bought my first house, and the tree in the front yard is
having
some obvious problems. I've never done any gardening/pruning/lawn
maintenance before, so I am very new to yard care. My guess is, its a
Purple Leaf Plum Tree. I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I've posted
some pictures online. Please take a look and let me know what I can do.

One problem are the leaves look damaged. We haven't had any hail this
year
so I'm assuming its a bug, but don't know what kind. As well, the roots
seem to be protruding out of the ground. It looks like small sticks
growing
out of the ground.

I've put pictures of all this online.

http://members.shaw.ca/tripley/

Please let me know what I can do to save this tree, and my lawn.

It IS a purple leaf plum - Prunus cerasifera or x blireana. It's hard to
distinguish between the two from a photo without seeing the flowers. Either
one is prone to quite a few fungal and bacterial diseases and a whole bunch
of insect problems, much like other trees in this genus, althoug blireana
tends to lead the pack. The leaf damage looks a lot like caterpillars, but
it is too late in the season to do anything now and the damage is not severe
enough to treat. Watch carefully next spring after it flowers and leafs out
and spray with Bt at that time if you see them - the caterpillars must be
present when you spray.

Both flowering plums and cherries are surface rooted and produce lots of
root suckers. Not a lot you can do about them, short of digging up the
roots, which is of course not an option. Mowing them regularly is your best
bet and watch for others in planting areas nearby - it is best to remove
them so they do not pull nutrients away from the tree proper.

If the tree continues to deteriorate ( too many insect problems or signs of
disease), you may want to consider replacing it with something less
troublesome and a bit more select. Purple leaf plums are an extremely common
(and very inexpensive) planting for new housing developments in my area and
perhaps yours also.

pam - gardengal