Black elder leaves not growing

[Dorothyparker010]

I have a well established black elder in the garden. It’s huge! And has been really healthy before. This year it still looks bare, as it did early spring. There are tiny leaf buds and the wood is green when I scratch away the bark. Is it going to die? 😢

we had a garden office built next to it in the summer but afaik that shouldn’t have disturbed the roots.

No expert but they are VERY thirsty and prone to heat shock when it’s warm. I would give it lots of water and maybe some plant food whilst waiting for someone with actual knowledge to appear!

I'm seeing loads of similar trees in our area. I wonder if its the drought last year, followed by a really wet winter followed by another really dry spell. Might be different in your area? But lots of trees with sparse, small leaves that would usually be green and lush in april.
I wonder if we're going to have to rethink our whole native plant set in coming years 😭

Yeah that’s a scary prospect. We’re in the north west.

BUT I have seen many of the same tree looking just fine, including my mum’s cuttings of my tree which she has in pots, which makes me think it’s something to do with my tree rather than the wider environment. Anyway. I will feed and water and keep an eye on it.

thanks all.