Nick Shepherd

I have an american persimmon sprout growing in my yard, pretty little tree about 4' tall and it has 4 nearly horizontal well spaced scaffolds.  I was planning on grafting 4 or 5 scions onto this tree next spring but was wondering if scion orientation, horizontal vs vertical, will have any bearing on success.  I could probably bend the scaffolds to more vertically if I start now if it matters.  Would removing the central leader increase chance of success on the scaffolds?  All the persimmon grafts I have done were vertical, either central leader to upright limbs.

I have a question.  Every year I rake the leaves, mulch them with a mower,  wet them, pile them and allow to cold compost for.a year, then move the composted leaves to around my fruit trees.   How much would I loose if I just put the mulched leaves around my trees and skipped the composting for a year.  I am getting older and lazy, I would like to skip the second time I have to move them.  I realize it's better to allow them to compost for a year but when I move them I break up all those nice fungal hyphae.  How much is lost if I just compost in place, rake back mulch, apply leaves then replace mulch.

May Lotito wrote:I don't have elder on my property but they are abundant in the wild. I have seen people foraging by the road side ditch. Does anyone in the ozarks know how do the native elderberries compared to the named varieties?

In general I think the named varieties I grow are larger and the chymes ripen more evenly than the wild ones growing near my place. That said, most if not all named varieties are just variants that were collected and propagated from the wild.  The next new variety may be growing by your road side.

My elderberries (Sambucus canadensis) seemed to be declining in yield over the years, despite selective pruning.   I had read several places that they could be pruned to ground level and they would still produce a crop so in mid Feb 2024 I cut everything down to the ground.  They regrew vigorously but Yield for 2024 was essentially zero. This year I have a bumper crop.  I would caution someone considering this to not cut everything to the ground unless you are willing to lose the year.  I will probably prune to the ground again, maybe every 3-4 years but will only do 1/3-1/4 of my bushes every year.

Anybody use a dedicated garbage disposal?

thank you, that is exactly the info I was looking for.

I bench grafted 15 apple trees on EMLA-1111 and two pears on OF H87.  I did W&T grafts and the height varies from 3-4" to 12-14" above the roots, wherever the diameters matched.  I have read that EMLA111 grafts should be close to the ground, can I just plant the higher grafted trees deeper to achieve this, or will the 12-14" above ground be a problem?  
I currently have them planted in a "nursery" at the same depth that the rootstock was growing at,  with grafts anywhere from 3-14" above the soil, planning on moving this fall, will that be to late to plant deeper?
How about the pears, same questions, they both were grafted fairly high.

Earlier when I bench grafted a few apples I noticed that the rootstock appeared to have been propagated from cuttings.  So after grafting I gathered the cuttings, dipped into rooting hormone and put into a cutting mix,  At this point it appears that most will root.  I will plant at least a couple and if I decide to plant more trees next year will use these for rootstock but at this point if my grafts take I don't need more apple trees and I was wondering if the EMLA 111 will produce fruit for wildlife?  It would be handy to have a known rootstock variety tree I could collect cuttings from and root more rootstock.  
Are other rootstock varieties as easy to propagate from cuttings, esp MM7?

Can you graft any mulberry variety to any other?  Specifically I want to graft Gerardi to dwarf everbearing.

Anore Jones wrote:My female sea buckthorn have invaded the rest of my garden with persistent underground runners and sprouts up from them
3 times my males have died out so now I need to get another male again. Hoping for more abundant berries.
The females grow tall and vigorously and produce a few delicious berries, seemingly even without any male.
This from the San Juan Islands in Washington State.

Me too!  I have purchased 4 females in two orders and all are alive and thriving.  I have purchased 4 males in four different orders and only one is still alive.  If I get good growth on the male this year I will graft a few limbs to my females for insurance, if it dies the females will have to go.