I have an old apple tree in my back yard that is on it's last legs. I love the apples it produces, and was thinking I would try grafting some branches onto the root shoots at the base of the tree to produce a new tree. I'm in North Vancouver in Lynn Valley, so I'm at a fairly high elevation. The buds don't look too swollen yet, but I'm concerned I may have missed the dormant "window." Can anyone advise if it I would still have to time to get graftable scions from the tree? Anyone have any helpful tips for a first time grafter? Thanks.
If the buds are not open at all, I think you can still graft a scion. Anyway, you can try and won't lose anything if it fails. Regarding the rootstock, I would recommend a real one because the root shoots could take a long time before giving you any fruits. If you know a gardener in your area, you can bring him some scions to graft to make sure your cultivars won't be lost.
Thanks for the reply Andre. I cut a bunch of scions today an put them in my fridge. I actually tried a graft today, as somewhere I read that both the scion and root stock should be dormant, but not frozen, for grafting, which is the current state. Other sites say to wait until active growth starts. I have several root shoots and scions to experiment with. I hadn't thought about root stock. I assumed since the root shoots are coming from the existing tree, it would be the most compatible root stock, but doing some more research, maybe not. The things I like about the apple tree is 1. absolutely dilicious apples, and also importantly 2. it's dwarf size. I can prune and pick all the apples either from the ground, or with only a step ladder for the few higher up branchs. I'd say at the highest point it's less than 10 ft. Now the problem with the apple tree is, besides likely being extremely old, is that the bark is completely gone down one side of the trunk. We've been living in this house for 5 years now, and every spring we are amazed that it still flushes out and produces a good crop of apples. I got the idea to try grafting it last fall, and about a week after I decided to do that it fell over! The trunk broke right at the ground. Miracously it stayed alive (the wood was bright green from all the cutting I took today). But I seriously doubt it's going to make it through another year. Reading what I have about root stock now, I'm guessing that the current root stock is not the best choice. We live in a mild, but extremely wet climate, with heavy clay soil. Is there anyone familiar with the Vancouver area that can suggest what kind of root stock would be the best choice for this area? I would definitely like to keep the size of the tree as small as possible (mostly for ease of maintenance, space is a consideration, but not that much of an issue). Also, are there local suppliers anyone can recommend? Thanks again! PS My neighbour has apple trees, so I'll ask if I can graft a few branches on her tree to save the cultivar, great advice!
Regarding the scions, the best choices is south exposed shoots (only growth of the year with nice buds) with a 15° angle from the trunk. A too straight one will give you too much wood (less fruits) and a too horizontal would give a too slow grower tree. For apple graft, I think that you should use a sleeping scion (from the fridge) on a starting active growth rootstock (usually around mid april in north hemisphere). I think best rootstock for your area could be M26 or Bud9. You'll find all the details here : http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/hort/breeders/appleroots/Factsheets/FSAccess.htm If you have a picture of your tree, I'll be happy to see how it looks. Andre
Here are the pictures of my tree. I placed the bucket in the picture to give a sense of scale. The bucket is about 40 cm tall. Note that the tree only had 2 main branches, both faced south (which is the branches you see going to the right). There is a picture of the bark damage, and I did a close up of where it broke at the base (although I don't think you see much detail). Because the majority of the tree was on one side, it always did lean somewhat towards the south. I actually cut it back a metre or so to reduce the weight a few years ago. Basically the main trunk was at most 1 metre high, with two right horizontal branches with other branches reaching at most around 3 metres high. Let me know what you think!
This is definitely an old tree ;-) Here's what I would do if it was mine. First, I would have take plenty of scions (only growth of the year) in the red part on the right of the picture. Put them in a slightly wet paper in a closed plastic bag in the fridge. Then I would have cut the old tree on the red line on the left. That should promote the birth of new shoots and a good growth of the existing ones. By mid-april (or when the buds of apple trees start to swollen in your area), I would have graft some scions by myself on these root shoots and some others and known rootstocks adapted to your soil and climate. To secure the cultivar, I would have give some good scions to a professional gardener or someone which is use to grafting. When you'll have some new fruits, ask a professional to identify the cultivar or post some pics here. We'll try to help. Andre
Thanks yet again Andre! Well, I'm in good shape (considering what I have to work with). I've cut about all the scions I can get and already have them in damp paper towel in my fridge. I actually went out to cut more after I read more on how to get the best scions, so I have 20+ now (each with several buds). I guess the next step is to cut the tree down (or in this case off as it already is down) which is easy to do. I've also located a local orchardist that supplies root stock and scions, so I'll talk with him about perhaps trading some root stock for scions to see what we end up with. My partner thinks it's too much fuss for an old apple tree, but I know people who complain that they buy trees from the nursery, wait for years for their first apples and then are disappointed by the apples produced. Then what? Do you cut it down and start over again? I don't think so. Well, the next time I get apples if I think of it I'll post here. Can you really identify an apple type from a picture? I probably have pictures somewhere of the tree with fruit on it. I can describe the fruit. It's dark red all over, crunchy, juicy and sweet. The fruit is smooth, with very little to no bumps at the bottom, and mostly consistent colour over the whole fruit. The tree tends to bloom late May, which is about a month later than most fruit trees bloom around here. Every spring I figure the tree must have died over the winter because my neighbour's trees are completely done blooming before mine even starts. The apples start being ready mid September (again later than most apple trees) and get sweeter the longer they stay on the tree. I try to leave them on until just before the first frost in early October. I usually have lots of great apples for Thanks-giving. They keep OK (I don't have the best storage facilities). We were still eating them fresh by keeping them in the fridge until close to Christmas. They still tasted good, but the skins were getting a little wrinkly (although still crisp and juicy on the inside), so I made the remainder into apple crisp for our family Christmas dinner. Thank you so much for your advice! I'll let you know how things go!
If it's a well known cultivar with all the details and good pictures like below, it's possible to ID the cultivar. But maybe it's just a "no name" old seedling. In this case, we'll call it the "LynnValley Apple" ;-)
Interesting thread -- lots of good advise, pictures, description. I wonder if you got some grafts to take; and what rootstock? MM106 might have been a good option. A more dwarfing one, Bud 9 for instance, will probably need a strong permanent stake.
