The Sandbox

[Native Hunter]

You are blessed to have all those wild crabs, and you're doing a great job managing them.

Unfortunately, around here when I find a wild flowering tree, it's usually the offspring of an ornamental variety from someone's yard. That is especially true of pears. My FIL did dig up a nice fruiting crab apple once and move to his yard. As luck would have it - the new road is getting that tree.

I see lots of those pears that have escaped from cultivation but yet to find one with good fruit.

 

[Rally1148]

You are blessed to have all those wild crabs, and you're doing a great job managing them.

Unfortunately, around here when I find a wild flowering tree, it's usually the offspring of an ornamental variety from someone's yard. That is especially true of pears. My FIL did dig up a nice fruiting crab apple once and move to his yard. As luck would have it - the new road is getting that tree.

I see lots of those pears that have escaped from cultivation but yet to find one with good fruit.

I've found that it takes a stroke of luck to find wild trees that produce well. I spotted 4 total, all apple-crabs (a bit larger than a normal crab), and 2 produce pretty well. This is my 2nd-3rd year after releasing them, and they produced alright last year. I'd LOVE to find some wild pears though!

 

[Rally1148]

You are blessed to have all those wild crabs, and you're doing a great job managing them.

Unfortunately, around here when I find a wild flowering tree, it's usually the offspring of an ornamental variety from someone's yard. That is especially true of pears. My FIL did dig up a nice fruiting crab apple once and move to his yard. As luck would have it - the new road is getting that tree.

I see lots of those pears that have escaped from cultivation but yet to find one with good fruit.

I've found that it takes a stroke of luck to find wild trees that produce well. I spotted 4 total, all apple-crabs (a bit larger than a normal crab), and 2 produce pretty well. This is my 2nd-3rd year after releasing them, and they produced alright last year. I'd LOVE to find some wild pears though!

View attachment 4950

Ther are plums and crab apples in there.View attachment 4951

Are the plums wild?

 

[Native Hunter]

I've found that it takes a stroke of luck to find wild trees that produce well. I spotted 4 total, all apple-crabs (a bit larger than a normal crab), and 2 produce pretty well. This is my 2nd-3rd year after releasing them, and they produced alright last year. I'd LOVE to find some wild pears though!

What I am able to find frequently is persimmon trees. Sometimes they are in a place that I can release them and let them take off. It seems to me that we have a high percentage of female persimmons, and the native ones drop over an extended period in the fall. I found two nice ones this spring in a fence row and cut back the stuff around them. Not sure yet if they are females but will be watching.

I planted some grafted persimmons last spring that cover October and November, but the native one seem to do that anyway, so probably not a lot gained other than getting them exactly where I wanted them.

 

[sandbur]

I've found that it takes a stroke of luck to find wild trees that produce well. I spotted 4 total, all apple-crabs (a bit larger than a normal crab), and 2 produce pretty well. This is my 2nd-3rd year after releasing them, and they produced alright last year. I'd LOVE to find some wild pears though!




Are the plums wild?

The plums are from an old homestead on this farm. Very similar to wild plum, but they do not sucker as much.

 

[sandbur]

Now is the time to look for wild crabs.View attachment 4964

This wild apple is also on the neighbor's fenceline and it needs to be released.

View attachment 4965

I need to check these trees out towards fall. They are on a state wildlife area.

They may not all be apples.

I can drive around ad see 5-6 of these trees in some sections, but see no wild apples when I am 50 miles north of here.
This spring I got some scion from a wild apple that produces about a 2 inch crab that drops about mid-November. The landowner says it is very edible.

 

[sandbur]

Here is a hybrid oak from a Michigan wildlife nursery. It has been in the ground about 10 years and now is almost waist high. I think one other oak has survived out of ten.

 

[sandbur]

Pear tree- maybe sunscauld, but not a success.

 

[sandbur]

Perhaps my first success with a cleft graft, but I should not brag yet. Northwest Greening on a flowering crab limb at the edge of my yard.


NW Greening on whip and tongues for this spring do not appear to be successful. Much of the NWG scion had a brown streak in the middle of it.

All T buds from last year were a failure.

Kinder Crisp, Golden Hornet (2), Whitney, and Pillsbury crab whip and tongues from this spring's whip and tongue had flowers that I have removed.

 

[sandbur]

Sand cherry in bloom.

 

[Freeborn]

Art, i have one of my grafts that is flowering, should I pinch off the flowers?

 

[sandbur]

Art, i have one of my grafts that is flowering, should I pinch off the flowers?

I think that is what the experts say. We want to get more vertical growth and not have energy go into growing an apple or two.

 

[sandbur]

Firecracker crab would make a nice flowering crab
.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Is Firecracker a wildlife crab or an ornamental ??

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Thank-you, Stu. Good looking crab for both deer and people. Graft some Firecracker scion onto B-118 or MM-111 - might be a great match.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I'm gonna look into getting a Firecracker for next spring's planting. Now that I've grafted once, I have the itch to try a few things like what you mentioned. Firecracker looks like a good subject for grafting. New addict !!

 

[sandbur]

I'm gonna look into getting a Firecracker for next spring's planting. Now that I've grafted once, I have the itch to try a few things like what you mentioned. Firecracker looks like a good subject for grafting. New addict !!

I'm not sure if it is patented, but I might have a small piece of scion to spare.

 

[sandbur]

Perhaps my first success with a cleft graft, but I should not brag yet. Northwest Greening on a flowering crab limb at the edge of my yard.View attachment 5042


NW Greening on whip and tongues for this spring do not appear to be successful. Much of the NWG scion had a brown streak in the middle of it.

All T buds from last year were a failure.

Kinder Crisp, Golden Hornet (2), Whitney, and Pillsbury crab whip and tongues from this spring's whip and tongue had flowers that I have removed.

I put a coat, I mean sleeve on it for tonight. Frost might extend to the suburbs of the Twin Cities.



So did most of the whip and tongue grafts.

 

[sandbur]

A swamp crab rootsucker was used as the rootstock here. I think I put a rootstock crab on top of it.


It got a coat, also.

 

[sandbur]

This is a seedling crab that I top worked to a larger crab.