How to improve drainage for Amur chokecherry?

My Prunus maackii has succumbed to fungus (it looks like rust) both summers since I planted it. Actually, it had the little dots on the leaves when I bought it a year ago spring. I was just reading up on these trees, and noticed that they require good drainage. And we have moderately clayey soil.

What would be the best way to help this poor ailing tree? I doubt that the root ball is very big yet.

Well.... usually the small feeder roots end at the drip-line on trees, meaning the edge of the leaves correlate to the edge of the roots. So if you wanted to take a chance (maybe as the tree becomes dormant?) and trench around it, adding compost and maybe some gravel (not sand)... it might work better to just dig up the tree, ammend the soil and replant. It's gonna be a big job, either way.

The more I think about it, though - digging it up might be your best bet. They say dig a pit 3x the width of the rootball, and the same depth, but you might want to go a little deeper in order to ammend it below.

Ugh, sounds like a real pain, I hope it's a small rootball! Good luck!

Thank you, Pagancat. It's already dormant, I think. The last leaves just fell off. They were all brown. If I dig it up and amend, what do I put in? Will compost do the trick?

Compost will definitely help. Sand+clay= cement, so don't go there. You can also build up the soil where the tree is actually a few inches above the soil level, that will improve drainage. Just don't fill it all up with compost, mix it with your native soil and be generous in terms of width of the hole. A problem that some trees will have is that they like the compost too much and won't grow roots beyond it, giving you a stunted tree or one that can blow over very easily. If you hand water, try to always hit the drip line and ignore the area near the trunk - roots go towards water, not away from it.

A layer of gravel at the bottom of the bed you're digging might not be a bad idea either, or it might well be overkill.

Good luck, I hope this helps you! If you want a suggestion from another source, there seems to be some pretty knowledgeable folks on the trees forum, as well. A lot of my info is taken from folks in Arizona; I doubt that it will vary much, but you never know. Had pretty clay-ey soil there, too.

You could try drilling around the drip line with a soil augur. Drop in the gravel and humus. the soil augurs come in diameters up to about 3 inches. There are bigger one's used for post holes that are automated.
You can operate the augurs with a battery charged drill, or I have mine in a brace and bit.

Or you could use a small post hole digger.

The augur I have is an old house building augur for setting pegs. It is about 5 ft long.

You might want to check with your local extension office to see if they can help you figure out what's wrong with your tree. That variety may be predisposed to diseases found in your area. The extension service is free and they have both horticulturists and Master Gardeners on tap to help.

Gypsum is fairly cheap and one of the best long-term solutions to breaking up clay soil. I apply gypsum here every spring and fall, and Ken composts like crazy year round. We started with red clay and iron ore rock, and after 10 years we have something the plants love.

So far I have read some good advice, and even learned a little.I too would recomend digging it up, and do an excentrate over kill on ground prep, but also I would recomend a funguicide treatment when replanting.Can't hurt. Mike