May have found a gem

[Rit]

Stumbled upon this tree today. It appears to be some type of wild crab. Is there anything I can do at this stage to encourage new growth for Scions? I’ll keep an eye on the fruit for drop times.

 

[yoderjac]

Outstanding!

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

If they are anything like our wild crabs look closely, they are still holding some fruit.

 

[TreeDaddy]

Always a joy to find fruit bearing trees growing in "the wild"

bill

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Is there anything I can do at this stage to encourage new growth for Scions?

What I've found by pure accident in pruning, is that branches that are more horizontal on the tree make good scion nurseries. By pruning some of the smaller "crappy" shoots on those horizontal branches in the spring, I've found that new water sprouts grew from where I had pruned by late summer and into the fall. They grew straight up toward the sky and made for really good scions for the following late winter/early spring. A purely accidental finding.

Good water sprouts will also grow from other pruned spots, but it seems like horizontal branches become like "hair brushes" full of water sprouts. They averaged 1/4" in dia. on most of our trees. When you prune for this, don't prune flush-tight to the main branch or trunk. Let a little stub for the water sprout to grow from. FWIW.

 

[Prof.Kent]

Cut it back severely and you'll have more scions next year than... well than you can shake a scion at.

 

[letemgrow]

As others stated:

Trim a few side limbs back to give new growth some space. The tree will do the rest for ya.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rit]

Thanks gents. I’ll do some trimming as suggested bows/professor. Step 2 should probably be to get said scions into capable hands. My “easy” bark grafts are barely above 50%

 

[Chainsaw]

I love finding new apple trees and over and over and over one things stands out about the find at least on this property. They are seldom alone. Sometimes finding just one has led to finding two or three or even ten or more. Those that are growing among taller trees of course don't always blossom but they still may be there. Looking hard in the woods behind the new tree might be worth a shot.