Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message
from "MC Emily" contains these words:

Hi

I have a Wild Cherry (bought in) that I planted during the winter of
2001/2002. It's about 6 feet tall now and doing really well. My
problem is that it has a branch growing from below the graft.
Should I leave it or should I cut it off?

Are you sure you bought wild cherry, (prunus avium/ gean /mazzard)?
I'm puzzled about why prunus avium would be grafted in the first
place, and what kind of rootstock anyone would think of putting it on!

(snip) It does, however, look slightly different to the rest
of the tree in that it's leaves are greener, whereas the other
branches have leaves that are tinged with red.

That sounds to me as if the reddish-tinged leaf part is possibly
prunus padus colorata, a form of bird cherry, or one of the ornamental
crabapples.

No, it's definitely a Cherry. It could have been a flowering Cherry. It's
possible that I got it mixed up with another one.

Jaqy

On Sat, 03 May 2003 14:08:25 +0100, MC Emily wrote:
I have a Wild Cherry (bought in) that I planted during the winter of
2001/2002. It's about 6 feet tall now and doing really well. My problem is
that it has a branch growing from below the graft. Should I leave it or
should I cut it off? It's about 1 foot long and, like the rest of the tree,

Jaqy,

Cut all branches growing below the graft off ASAP - as soon as you spot
them - so they don't get big. Cherry trees can have a tendancy to sucker
at the base which is a darn nusiance - I de-suckered the cherry tree I
look after yesterday - having only done it 2 weeks ago!!!

Sarah

On Sun, 04 May 2003 21:40:06 +0100, MC Emily wrote:

Thanks, Sarah. I thought I'd heard that I should do that. Will I be able
to grow the sucker into a tree and, if so, how do I do it?

Jaqy,

Interesting thought. Now, you said you had a "branch" of about 1 foot long
growing below the graft. Now this is not the same as a sucker! In fact
you're going way beyond my knowledge!

If you have a grafted tree, the branch growing below the graft is from the
root stock, and should be removed because it can overwelm the grafted
stock, and after all you paid for the tree that had been grafted rarther
than the root stock. Trees are grafted onto rootstocks for several reasons
- typically to control the size of the grafted stock (smaller, larger
etc.)

Suckers are - actually I'm not sure what they are - but they can grow from
the roots or bases of trees such as cherry or plums - they are small to
start with, but can grow out of control. Maybe someone can define a sucker
better for me!

I think your tree's below graft growth might be too big to be able to root
it - but have a go - you won't loose anything. Cut the branch off close to
the trunk to get it off the tree. Then, shortn it to just below a bud,
remove excess leaves, and either pop it in a vase of water or a pot of
very damp compost, and see if it will root. You'd be better off trying
with a smaller, younger shoot to be honest, and it still might not work.
I'm none to sure how good cherries are for this sort of thing. Willow is
excellent!

Sarah

The message
from "MC Emily" contains these words:

Thanks, Sarah. I thought I'd heard that I should do that. Will I be able
to grow the sucker into a tree and, if so, how do I do it?

You can, but it's not likely to be worthwhile, and may not even have
fruit at all.

The stem/trunk and suckers are just a vigorous rootstock to provide lots
of sap to feed the (hopefully) large crop of big cherries that its own
roots wouldn't support.

--
Tony
Replace solidi with dots to reply: tony/anson snailything zetnet/co/uk

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi

Anthony E Anson wrote:
Thanks, Sarah. I thought I'd heard that I should do that. Will I
be able to grow the sucker into a tree and, if so, how do I do it?

You can, but it's not likely to be worthwhile, and may not even have
fruit at all.

The stem/trunk and suckers are just a vigorous rootstock to provide
lots of sap to feed the (hopefully) large crop of big cherries that
its own roots wouldn't support.

Thanks, I'm going to give it a go anyway. I don't mind it being a
non-productive tree as I have plenty of room for trees and a need for them
for shape in my garden - everything's very flat and open at the moment - so
any tree is good )))

Jaqy