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chopped fruit trees

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posted 16 years ago

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I can't load pics yet but I want to find out about the fruit trees I have. they seem to have been 'topped' and have some branches that have possibly emerged from the root stock. is there any way to tell what is graft and what is root stock originated? other than just waiting for fruit of course. the previous owners mentioned that one of the trees had less then desirable fruit and I suspect that this was the problem. of course if they were chopped too low I suppose they are hopeless. could I graft a more desirable variety onto them a second time or would the root stock be to mature or something of that nature?

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Susan Monroe

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Location: Western WA

posted 16 years ago

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Can you see a graft at all? Gently dig down around the trunk and see if they buried the graft.

How high off the ground were they topped? Sometimes people will prune out the middle of fruit trees to keep the branches close enough to the ground to harvest without using ladders. And some trees are recommended to be opened in the middle for light.

Sue

Leah Sattler

Posts: 2603

posted 16 years ago

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I can't see a graft but there are tons of little branches coming out from about 3' off the ground where it appears to have been hacked off and there are a few nearer (is that a real word?) the ground and some suckers coming out from beneath the soil.

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"One cannot help an involuntary process. The point is not to disturb it. - Dr. Michel Odent

Gwen Lynn

Posts: 736

posted 16 years ago

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"Nearer" is in the Scrabble dictionary & that's good enough for me!

Susan Monroe

Posts: 1093

Location: Western WA

posted 16 years ago

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I'm not sure, but those almost sound like they were grown from cuttings or seedlings, and they might have been starting to prune off the lower branches? Or does it look more like deer or livestock browsing?

How tall are the trees overall?

Do you have any idea what kind of fruits they are?

Sue

Posts: 133

Location: West Iowa

posted 16 years ago

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I guess just wait until they fruit this year, and graft onto the ones that don't taste good. I have some rootstock tree growing in orchard that I need to graft onto, size of the tree shouldn't matter. I think it would actually help the graft produce fruit earlier since tree is mature.

Leah Sattler

Posts: 2603

posted 16 years ago

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I know that there are apple peach and plum and pear down there. all of them seem to have been pruned the same way, some a little more severly than others. it is definitly not browse damage, I figure that would be damage from the bottom up. this is just like if you were to try and cut a tree down and it went to regrow with lots of little upward growing branches. except it wasn't chopped of at ground level but varying between 1 and 3 feet off the ground. its good to know I ought ot be able to graft on to them no matter their stage of maturity, I guess i'll just see what I have when they fruit

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"One cannot help an involuntary process. The point is not to disturb it. - Dr. Michel Odent

paul wheaton

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Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)

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posted 16 years ago

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Of course, pictures would sure help.

I wonder if these might be coppice trees. Then the idea is to cut them low every few years. I'm pretty sure hazelnut qualifies as a coppice.

you say "tin pot dictator" like it is a bad thing!

Leah Sattler

Posts: 2603

posted 16 years ago

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yeah! I finally got my pc up and bought a new keyboard so I can load pictures!

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"One cannot help an involuntary process. The point is not to disturb it. - Dr. Michel Odent

Kathleen Sanderson

pollinator

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Location: Zone 6b

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posted 16 years ago

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Hmm. Interesting. (LOL!) That is NOT the way fruit trees are supposed to be pruned, but it *is* the way I've seen a lot of trees around here whacked by ignoramuses! You'll get a lot more fruit from branches that are more or less horizontal, so you'll need to do some shaping and possibly tie some of the branches down to a more horizontal position. They'll be easier to pick from that way, too. It's too late now to prune them; do some research on how the different fruits should be pruned (what shape the trees should have) and be prepared to deal with them next winter while they are dormant.

Trees are cut off that way for coppicing, but I suspect the people who cut these trees didn't have that in mind!

Kathleen

Susan Monroe

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Location: Western WA

posted 16 years ago

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Yes, it looks like a butcher job!

Sue

paul wheaton

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Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)

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posted 16 years ago

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Is it an apple?

you say "tin pot dictator" like it is a bad thing!

Susan Monroe

Posts: 1093

Location: Western WA

posted 16 years ago

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I think it is a butcher-type job called 'pollarding'.

Sue

Leah Sattler

Posts: 2603

posted 16 years ago

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paul wheaton wrote:
Is it an apple?

you know..I asked what all the trees were and didn't write it down so I am mixed up. it could be. my apple at the old house is in the same stage of bloom the peach tree is already leafed out well so I sort of can identify those here too. so this is either a plum, apple or pear. like that is real useful right

well, I kinda thought they were butchered too I was hoping there was some rhyme or reason for it

I had to look up pollarding OUCH! poor trees. you may be right about that though sue, maybe it was an amatuer attempt at it. they do that with crepe myrtles here most years (proffesionally lanscaped places).

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"One cannot help an involuntary process. The point is not to disturb it. - Dr. Michel Odent

paul wheaton

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Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)

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posted 16 years ago

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I don't see pollarding.

Pollarding is a wise practice for some species. Not apple.

I'm going to guess that this is a grafted tree, and then the rootstock had some suckers at some point. So I suspect that one of the three trees is going to be something really yummy and that the other two are gonna have lame fruit.

I think I would wait until fall to find out for sure, and then come up with a plan of action from there.

you say "tin pot dictator" like it is a bad thing!

Leah Sattler

Posts: 2603

posted 16 years ago

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okie doke thats what I'll do. I want so bad to go out there and wack on them now just to feel like I have done something. but I will just wait and see.

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"One cannot help an involuntary process. The point is not to disturb it. - Dr. Michel Odent

paul wheaton

author and steward

Posts: 59828

Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)

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posted 16 years ago

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I do see some need for pruning.

Sepp doesn't beleive in pruning, but when I asked his son Josef about it, he said that if he happens to have pruning gear and he happens to come across a tree that will die without some pruning, well .... okay.

This tree does have some serious issues. I just think you want to figure out which part of the tree has the yummy fruit.

you say "tin pot dictator" like it is a bad thing!

Brenda Groth

pollinator

Posts: 4437

Location: North Central Michigan

posted 16 years ago

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I hope you get some nice fruit from those trees, such a waste if they were ruined..i had two trees that got bad rabbit damage HIGH UP from our 141 " of snow..they climbed right up into the upper branches and ate everything..so i had to cut a few of them right down to the trunk to give them a chance to grow new branches..ouch..and I hope they weren't ruined..but I see new buds coming..but where branches should be not off the roots..my guess is those are inferior ..

maybe goat food?

Brenda

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