Failing Yellow Rowan tree

I have a yellow Rowan tree planted about 7 to 8 years ago . Up till now it has been fine producing lots of yellow berries in the autumn . This year I think a sudden drop in temperature in the spring got it up here in Auchterarder .
My garden is on a hill and the plant stands within a small 2 foot high retaining wall so I don't think that drainage is a problem . There is no sign of any fungus.
There are a lot of buds that did not open and now crumble when touched and clusters intended for flowers that like wise crumble . The top of the tree is particularly sparse of foliage .
There are one or two green leaves on the remainder but the rest are rust coloured . On advice from Dobbies they told me to feed it with Growmore and then add some bone meal to the soil .

However I think the problem is more than this and wonder if it will ever recover

Attached are two photos

Can someone advise

 

Attached is another photo with a close up of leaves and dead berry clusters

 

Did it get waterlogged last Summer / Autumn / Winter?

 

Last year was very wet and we had snow in winter . In May this year we also had a sudden drop in temperature from quite warm and that part of the garden might have been colder than other areas as no air flow over it . However as the substrate is on a slope I cant see that it got waterlogged . Adjacent plants did not seem to be affected . Got the feeling that it was the cold shock in May but cant prove it

 

I only know about the 'normal', regular, wild rowans. They grow on my land, which is quite high and very exposed. In winter, the land can be under snow for weeks at a time sometimes and there is a bitterly cold wind that sometimes blasts it. The rowans don't seem to care, they just keep doing their thing, so I can't see that cold will have harmed yours.

 

I wouldn't have expected cold to upset a Rowan (and snow cover would help as it would insulate them). We had dreadful cold easterly winds in Spring in East Anglia and that caused a lot of problems (if you could put your Location in your Personal Details that would help ), but other than that the occasional cold temperature shouldn't be a problem. My Rowans weren't upset by the easterly ... but young plants that I had recently planted hated it.

 

Thanks for that . It did occur to me however that since it had started to do its spring thing so to speak a sudden severe cold snap would not have been very welcome and stopped the clock. I was hoping that it would recover with new growth but perhaps the shock was too much . If its not that then what else other than wait and see?

 

Its very close to the fence, and some of it overhangs. Has anything significant been done next door around the time of the sudden poor health? Anyone, for example, been spraying anything to tackle all those willowherb weeds?

 

No thats a Greenbelt woodland .Willow herbs becoming a nuisance also invasive brambles not to mention bark chewing rabbits which invaded about 3 years ago or so during heavy snow which lasted for weeks .
Area was last strimmed about 2 to 3 years ago . Not to my knowledge been touched since . Area behind tree is neighbours garden low point and in area next to tree he has laid tarpaulin to inhibit weeds so no likelihood of local spraying

 

I agree the cold snap may not have been a coincidence, but when the plant comes into leaf in the Spring can also be when it discovers that it has some other problem - disease, insufficient food store, and the like.

Fingers crossed I think, if it doesn't come into leaf next year then that's that I'm afraid.

Make sure it doesn't suffer from any stress this year - so water in very dry weather, I'd use a liquid fertiliser at half strength every week or two (easier for it to take up than granular, and less chance of getting localised high concentrations that might add to its stress). Perhaps a tonic too - like a seaweed product such as Maxicrop. Inspect of disease. I don't think you can do more.

 

I planted a rowan in a patch which had been part of some old foundations, still quite rubbly and dry. I must admit to neglecting it terribly, and it began to look much like your photos. Last winter I took pity on it and gave it some bonemeal and watered it more frequently. It made a huge difference, and is now putting on some healthy looking growth.