This is another one from BH that wasView attachment 34808 planted last spring.
One of my 20 year old Dolgo seedling trees that I top worked this spring is sending up dozens of suckers from its roots within 3' of the base again this year. That is a tree that produces root suckers that grow their own roots as well and I nip them off at the parent root when the frost goes out and immediately plant them elsewhere. I've been mounding those for years. I've posted the information about that tree before.
The big surprise this year is that I had a Dolgo seedling from Lawyer Nursery that I planted 20 years ago that turned into a double trunk tree and I cut it back to a single trunk two or three years ago, and its roots are sending up suckers way out yonder all the way along its roots similar to what a Black Locust tree does. I will be fencing those root suckers this fall and see if I can stool those as well. They would be clones of a crabapple tree that drops its fruit during the peak of the rut. I had read years ago that apples trees growing in sand have roots that go out three times as far as the tree's crown. My observations seem to be consistent with at least that distance ratio.
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I posted this picture somewhere, maybe on another thread. This chestnut crab has been in the ground over 30 years. It throws rootsuckers up to 7 paces from the tree and I have dug many of them. This spring, I topworked three of them that are down by the pond to Big Dog and Buckman crab. Maybe I can get a picture later.
My farmstead and wild plum rootstock also throw. Rootsuckers up to 8 paces from the tree. I have a hard time getting them to survive when I dig them.
These are on lighter soil( top of the hill).
My hybrid poplar on light soil is throwing rootsuckers, while a sister tree that is 50 yards away on heavy soil is not. This makes me wonder if the lighter souls create shallower roots to grab every drop of moisture.
Or, there is less heavy sod on lighter soils, and daylight or some other factor causes hormone changes in the roots.
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Wondering how your success / experience has been with fall planting? Rough timeframe? I’m planning to move toward fall planting this year down in Central WI. Spring planting just doesn’t work well with my job so I’ve got to do something different.Chainsaw: I'm thinking/guessing that with your question you mean the advantage over growing them in a bed where I could water them just the same as I can in pots. The big advantage for me is ease of coordinating my fall planting crew helpers. I have all the posts and enclosures in place before fall dormant planting time. Early in the morning of the day when my helpers will arrive, I set each pot right next to where I want the tree planted and consistent with my orchard maps. When my helpers arrive, they can move very quickly from one tree planting site to the next without needing to do any tree fetching or deliberating whether they have the right tree for the right planting spot.
BuckSnort: My success with end of October planting of potted apple trees has been rather good. The main problem I have had is with grasshoppers moving in during the following July and stripping the bark off those trees if I don't get out there to spray the trunks of with insecticide in time.Wondering how your success / experience has been with fall planting? Rough timeframe? I’m planning to move toward fall planting this year down in Central WI. Spring planting just doesn’t work well with my job so I’ve got to do something different.
Well I guess now I know the plan.BuckSnort: My success with end of October planting of potted apple trees has been rather good. The main problem I have had is with grasshoppers moving in during the following July and stripping the bark off those trees if I don't get out there to spray the trunks of with insecticide in time.
I too plan to try fall planting. Due to the relative warm water in nearby Lake Ontario in the fall there is a fairly large window here where our ground is not frozen but trees have lost their leaves.Well I guess now I know the plan.
Late Oct / Early Nov:
1. Shoot nice buck in the morning.
2. Plant apple trees in the afternoon.
3. Protect trees from every insect & disease known to man and wait patiently.
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