Scorbus Help

Please can anyone help me with this.
I planted a Scorbus 'Joseph rock' (mountain ash) In the first year it was fine. this year it had started to bud. But then stopped. I've realised now that the buds aren't going to turn into leaves. When i planted it i dug a very big hole and followed all the instructions.
is there anythithing i can do to save it.
come on genius out there ..............save my tree please

 

Ii had a Sorbus which I bought for it's flame red autumn colour. It sat in the front garden for years. It produced leaves but never grew. I eventually discovered that there was a great deal of concrete from an old yard just where I'd planted it. I moved it pollarded it and it is now growing very well. I say all this as it may be sited in a bad position. They are generally hardy trees so I'm afraid I don't know. I'm sorry. Hopefully Treesurfer can help.

 

I was thinking the roots may have met up with some hard clay. I maybe should have dug a huge pit and filled it with compost.

 

I had a white beam and it would not sit upright. I took it out and dug very deep and found the Blarney stone in residence. Removed that and it was fine. You can't dig it up just now but you could clear round it a bit and add some compost and give it a feed. Come November you could try digging it out and replacing the soil. You really need to dig a huge hole for trees. The compost round it acts as a sort of flower pot while the big tap roots reach down for anchorage.

 

Ho runsforhome,

Is this the first year that the tree has been in the ground? If not when did you plant it, did you feed it, has it leafed before and has anything changed in the tree's vicinity since you planted it? Late or retarded leaf growth can be attributed to lack of nutrients, waterlogging, damage when planting or disease but can't be diagnosed without further investigation.

 

Hi treesurfer78. Many thanks for the reply.
since i posted last, some of the buds have produced leaves. "Late or retarded leaf growth" is spot on. I planted the tree early last year and that summer it rained constantly, that part of the garden was very wet. the potatoes growing adjacent to the tree were rotten, i removed them all. Although the tree seemed ok, In that it produced some white berries. i did think the leaves started to turn rather early though, compared other trees. During the winter it was drier and i dug that part of the garden over. This year it is a lot drier.
I've never fed the tree. what should i feed it with.

 

Sounds to me as though your tree is in too wet an area of the garden (i.e. poor draining). These trees do not like waterlogging
I would consider moving it for next year