이 연구에서는 주요 가로수인 왕벚나무를 대상으로 구례지역의 조기낙엽 현황 진단을 위해 제주도와 낙엽비율 비교연구를 진행하였고, 구례군에서 수행가능한 주요 가로수 관리방법을 두 가지로 구분하여 관리방법별 조기낙엽 지연효과와 피해를 규명하여 최적관리방법을 도출하였다. 구례지역은 기상청 단풍시기와 낙엽시기가 유사한 제주도 지역보다 같은 시기 낙엽비율이 높았고, 약제처리, 약제와 관수처리를 진행했을 때 구멍병이 방제되어 낙엽 시기가 2주 지연되었다. 조기낙엽은 왕벚나무의 생장과 개화에 영향을 미쳤으며, 약제와 관수처리를 진행한 관리방 법에서 생장이 가장 높았고, 2년 뒤 개화량이 가장 높은 것으로 추정되었다. 따라서 왕벚나무 가로수의 조기낙엽을 지연시키기 위해 구멍병 방제가 중요하고, 조기낙엽이 수관의 발달과 개화량에 영향을 미칠 수 있으므로 약제와 관수처리를 함께 처리하는 관리방법을 도입하는 것이 필요할 것으로 생각된다.
The Korean flowering cherry is a popular tree. However, the trees have started to defoliate early, including those in Gurye. Thus, it is necessary to identify the causes of the early defoliation and how to manage them. Therefore, the purpose of this study was threefold: 1) to investigate the early defoliation of flowering cherry trees, 2) to identify the differences in growth and flowering of the trees in response to treatment, and 3) to suggest an optimal treatment for the trees. The experiment was conducted in Gurye at a site 3 km long with 102 flowering cherry trees along a street. There were three treatments: control, an environmentally friendly insecticide and a disinfectant (treatment 1), and an environmentally friendly insecticide, a disinfectant, and irrigation (treatment 2). The trees in Gurye were compared to trees on Jeju Island. The defoliation rates of the flowering cherry in Gurye were significantly higher than those on Jeju Island at each measurement time. Within Gurye, the defoliation rate was significantly higher in the trees of the control than in the two treatments and only the trees in the control from Gurye had shot-hole disease. Post-treatment, twigs collected from the control during April showed significantly poorer growth, lower numbers of flowering buds per twig, and lower numbers of foliar buds. The trees given treatment 1 showed significantly greater growth, number of total buds, flowering buds per twig, and density of buds than the trees given treatment 2. After analyzing the correlations, it was established that early defoliation led to poorer growth, affecting the flowering of the trees.