I have always considered that trees should be pruned before they start
to blossom. I also cut back any shoots coming out of the trunk or up
from the roots during winter.

Now we are in spring and the trees are starting to blossom. Many of my
trees allready have ambitious shoots coming out of the trunk/roots.
Should I cut these back as they appear or wait till the end of the
growing season?

In particular I have a decorative cherry tree that has been spliced
about 2M from the groung. The branches breaking out from the splice have
a pink blossom, but from the splice down I have the white blossom of the
'host tree'sprouting out of the trunk. Is this normal?

Roger wrote:
I have always considered that trees should be pruned before they
start
to blossom. I also cut back any shoots coming out of the trunk or
up
from the roots during winter.

Now we are in spring and the trees are starting to blossom. Many of
my
trees allready have ambitious shoots coming out of the trunk/roots.
Should I cut these back as they appear or wait till the end of the
growing season?

In particular I have a decorative cherry tree that has been spliced
about 2M from the groung. The branches breaking out from the splice
have a pink blossom, but from the splice down I have the white
blossom of the 'host tree'sprouting out of the trunk. Is this
normal?

The stock, the bit with the roots, is usually a more vigorous grower
than the graft, so you're likely to end up with a mainly or
completely white tree. you should tear out (downwards, but carefully)
the shoots below the union rather than cutting them, as you would
with suckers coming from the roots. Cutting will just encourage the
shoot to produce more shoots, which will nab the nourishment you want
to go to the bit you actually paid for.

But it shouldn't usually happen: I wonder if you were sold a pup.
(Pear trees on quince stocks can be a pain this way, though.)

Take care, too: trees which flower on last year's wood won't flower
this year if you prune them before flowering. Plenty of info on the
web and in the usual books.

--
Mike.

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 11:09:33 GMT, Roger
wrote:

I have always considered that trees should be pruned before they start
to blossom. I also cut back any shoots coming out of the trunk or up
from the roots during winter.

Now we are in spring and the trees are starting to blossom. Many of my
trees allready have ambitious shoots coming out of the trunk/roots.
Should I cut these back as they appear or wait till the end of the
growing season?

In particular I have a decorative cherry tree that has been spliced
about 2M from the groung. The branches breaking out from the splice have
a pink blossom, but from the splice down I have the white blossom of the
'host tree'sprouting out of the trunk. Is this normal?

In the UK, ornamental cherries should be pruned while in vigorous
growth, say midsummer. This is to prevent infection by silver leaf
disease, which enters open wounds if they are pruned while dormant.
But you may not have silver leaf disease in the Piedmont, in which
case it's less important.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

Mike Lyle wrote:


The stock, the bit with the roots, is usually a more vigorous grower
than the graft, so you're likely to end up with a mainly or
completely white tree.

I can see that happening, there are several strong white blossomed
shoots coming out of the base of the union (noe I know what the splice
**should** be called), I can see these could take over.

Thanks for the advice!

I have some paste of the sort you use for covering cankers, should I put
a drop of this were I remove shoots?

BTW, can you, or anybody, reccomend a good book on tree husbandry? I
have DG.Hessayon's Tree and Shrub expert but this is mostly concerned
with classification rather than plant care. I have around 20 trees now
(mostly young), but still plently more space were I plan to add more.

I also have about 200 chestnut trees which I don't have time to care for
properly, but I would like to make a better effort!

Roger wrote:
[...]
In particular I have a decorative cherry tree that has been spliced
about 2M from the groung. The branches breaking out from the splice
have
a pink blossom, but from the splice down I have the white blossom of
the
'host tree'sprouting out of the trunk. Is this normal?

Just out of interest, I've just seen an interesting pink flowering
cherry here in generously tree-lined Cheltenham. It's got a number of
short shoots at intervals up the trunk, and every one is adorned with a
nice bunch of apparently the same flowers as the top growth: it looks
as though somebody's stuck them on. I was driving, so I couldn't
examine the tree, but it did look like a top graft.

--
Mike.