By Karenquinton
Canada 
Hello; I live in west end Toronto and have a cherry tree which is probably 30 or more years old. It came out in leaf and flowered beautifully this spring, but when we came back from a two-week trip around 10 June the leaves had been damaged – with tiny holes in most of them.
My husband thinks the tree is diseased and wants to cut it down – he somehow loves to be proactive and cut down trees!!! – but I love my trees and want to keep them. I am thinking it was some kind of insect infestation. What should I do?
Many many thanks,
21 Aug, 2017
Answers
If they are small and a regular shape then they might be shot holes. A bacterial fungus. You could spray but as SBG has said that even if it might be small caterpillars, it's a bit late in the season to worry. The only time that you would need to cut it down is if it's bacterial canker and this isn't the case so best left alone.
21 Aug, 2017
By all means look for the caterpillars, especially at night, with a flashlight. If it turns out to be shot hole, spray the tree a couple of times a few weeks apart, in the spring, just after bloom, with Bacillus amyloliquifaciens. More sprayings may be needed, if the weather is very rainy. Earthworm castings and vermicompost will help repel the caterpillars,and help the tree resist the shot hole fungi.
21 Aug, 2017
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welcome to GoY,
yes this will have been some leaf eating insect and no you don't need to cut down the tree.
look carefully at the underside of the leaves for any small caterpillars. probably too late to dao anything this year. clear up any fallen leaves to reduce the number of pests that may overwinter there.
21 Aug, 2017