Baby Chickens

Training Ginkgo Trees as Large Bonsai. 4.9.17

Ginkgo Tree in Chengdu, China.  10/2013

Ginkgo Trees in Chengdu, China.  10/2013

In 2013, we went to China and visited historic places including some palaces and monasteries.  These Ginkgo biloba specimens were trained like bonsai trees, but in-ground and larger.  Probably quite old.

We wanted to reproduce a similar idea in our garden, using ginkgo trees that I grew from seeds.  They are about 10 years old, planted in a mixed shrub and perennial bed.  Today, I began training them as the start of making our own bonsai-type trees.  I selected branches at level of the tree.  I  pruned then long stems from each branch leaving 1-3 buds per spur.  Then I tied the branches to poles - mainly prunings from buddleia and plum - and lowered the pole-tied branches to a horizontal position, tying them to bricks.  Some, I turned to a chosen lateral orientation, as well as lowering them vertically, so they would be somewhat distributed around the trunk.

It turned out, this relatively young ginkgo wood is rather pliable, more so than willow, I think.  It bends a bit like lead.  None of them broke, despite some severe bending at very different angles from what they started with.

Ginkgo Tree Before Training.  4.9.17

First Stage of Training Ginkgo Tree.  4.9.17

I think this was a good time to start, with buds beginning to swell for Spring growth, but no actual growth yet.  The sap is running, which may have made the branches more pliable.  Even branches as thick as my thumb bent readily, although I was careful and bent them slowly.

The plan is to allow growth along each branch, maybe to 3 or 4 nodes, then pinch the apex of each spur so that they branch more tightly. 

I don't expect to make trees as majestic looking as the ones we saw in China.  That might take decades, which I don't expect to have.  But we might have something interesting in a couple of years.

Near the tops of the trees, I did leave young growth to extend longer with plan to bend to horizontal positions next year.  The maximum planned height is about 7 or 8 feet tall.

Fruit Bloom Diary. 4.9.17

White Toka with Pink Hollywood Graft.  4.9.17

 Here is my fruit tree bloom diary as of today. 

Completed Blooming and Petals Fallen.
Crimson Pointe Plum.

Past Peak but Many Blossoms Present.
Sweet Treat hybrid plum (pluerry).
Nadia hybrid plum (Asian plum x cherry).
Hollywood (Asian plum).

Late Peak.
Methley (Asian Plum).
Unknown Asian Plum.

Peak.
Hanska (Hybrid American x Asian Plum).
Toka (Hybrid American x Asian Plum).
Ember (Hybrid American x Asian Plum).
LaCrescent (Hybrid American x Asian Plum) .
Shiro (Asian Plum)

Rare blossoms open, most not open yet.
Possibly, Green Gage Plum - small green euro plum.

Toka Plum.  4.9.17

Vandalay Cherry.

Hanska Plum.  4.9.17

Hamese Asian Pear.
Hosui Asian Pear.

Most of the pears are not open yet.
None of the apples are open so far.
Most of the sweet cherries are not open yet.
None of the pie cherries are close to opening.
Pawpaws have swelling buds but not close to open flowers yet.

I've read mixed reports on pollination among the American X Asian plum hybrids.  Most state that Hanska and Ember are poor pollinators for the others, while Toka is a good pollinator.  I'm not sure about LaCrescent.  I have not read about the effectiveness of Asian plums with these, such as Shiro which had the same bloom time for me, or Hollywood and Methley, which seem to overlap but not perfectly.

When I originally obtained the American X Asian hybrid plum grafts, one of my goals was to see if they bloomed later than Asian plums, and therefore less risk for damage by late frost.  That hypothesis was correct.  Since this is the first year for massive bloom, I don't know yet if they will actually provide fruit here, or what those fruits will be like.

Sweet Treat and Nadia are new interspecific hybrids, and their pollination requirements are not well known, especially in this area.  With early overlap by Crimson Pointe, mid overlap by Hollywood, Methley, and the unknown Asian Plum, and late overlap by Shiro, the bloom times are covered.  Whether any of those will be genetically compatible pollinators, I hope we learn soon.  I won't know specifically which ones, but I might learn if we have those needs covered.

LaCrescent Plum.  4.9.17

 So far my wild plum hasn't even made buds.  I don't know if it is skipping a year, or if it is just going to be a lot later.  If so, and no fruit, it might be a candidate for removal. 

Sweet Treat Pluerry.  4.9.17

Possibly Green Gage Plum.  4.9.17

Planting Two Grafted Chestnut Saplings. 4.4.17

Grafted Chestnut Saplings.  4.4.17

The two grafted chestnut trees from Raintree arrived yesterday, so I planted them.  The smaller one doesn't look like much.  The larger one is OK although the pruning was kind of harsh.  I guess that is needed for shipping.  The varieties are Maraval and Marigoule, Euro/Japanese hybrids.  They have deer fencing, and I will add the vole barrier tomorrow.

It's always amazing to me that bare root trees can survive, take off and grow.  I hope these do the same.

This completes the various things I wanted to do with the huge area of blackberries that I spent a year clearing.  Now there are 3 chestnut trees planted, and a dawn redwood.  The forest edge has perennials that I salvaged / rescued from the old yard, and the Hawthorn trees have grafts of Chinese Haw, Quince, and Asian pears, for fun/.  The back is planted with a row of Cypress, for privacy, reduce invasion from wild blackberries, and to prevent erosion.

Flowers. 4.4.17

Charlotte Peach.  4.4.17

Daffodils in flower border.  4.4.17

 Lots of flowers blooming.  If the peaches and plums didn't bear fruit, they would still be worth growing for their flowers.  Most of the daffodils were ones that I recovered from the old yard.  They established and are flourishing.  Some are from random acts of daffodil bulb planting that I do each fall.

Daffodils in tree area.  4.4.17

More daffodils in flower border.  4.4.17

Hollywood plum grafted onto Toka.  4.4.17

Fruit Tree Blooming Notes. 4.4.17

Methley Plum.  4.4.17

Hollywood Plum.  4.4.17

 I'm recording the bloom dates for my fruit trees.  For future decisions, I want to know if some bloom too early, and are exposed to frost.  For pollination and multigrafts, it doesn't help if one is finished before the polleniing variety starts.

Here's where they are now.  At my place in Battleground, only the Asian plums and peaches are blooming.

Peak or past peak blooming:
Crimson Pointe ornamental plum.

Peak Blooming:
Hollywood Plum.
Methley Plum.
Sweet Treat Pluerry.
Nadia Plum Cherry Hybrid.

Early Open with a few flowers Blooming:
Shiro Plum - barely started.
LaCrescent hybrid Plum.
Charlotte Peach.  Almost peak blooming.
Mary Jane Peach.

Buds present and swelling but not open:
Hanska hybrid plum.
Ember hybrid plum.
Toka hybrid plum.

I have Hollywood on Toka.  I think I'll remove it.  Hollywood is way ahead of Toka, and is much more vigorous.  I have several other starts or grafts of Hollywood, so removing it is no loss.  Except I hate to remove a successful graft of my own doing.

Most of the cherries have swelling flower buds, as do most of the the pawpaws, Asian pears, and some apples. 

There are tiny insects moving from flower to flower in the plum and peach trees.  I imagine those are pollinating insects.  I cut sections from the unknown plum tree, and Crimson Pointe, and attached them to the other trees, as pollen sources.  I also hand pollinated a little, for Nadia and Sweet Treat.  I doubt that will have much impact, but it's not difficult to do.

Sweet Treat Pluerry.  4.4.17

Nadia Plum Cherry Hybrid.  4.4.17

Mostly, Unknown Asian Plum with multigrafts.   4.4.17

Charlotte Peach.  4.4.17

Maryanne Peach.  4.4.17

Q-1-8 Peach  4.4.17

Crimson Pointe Plum.  4.4.17

Fruit Tree Blooming Notes. 3.31.17

Methley Plum.  About 25% in bloom.  3.31.17

Nadia Plum Cherry Hybrid.  About 1/3 in bloom.  3.31.17

As of today, the Asian plums are the main fruit trees with blossom.  Hollywood and Crimson Pointe, both with myrobalan heritage, are in full, amazing bloom.  I cut a few sprigs from Crimson Pointe and placed near other blooming plums to assist pollenizing insects.  Crimson Pointe is sold as an ornamental, but I like the plums.  They are small, larger than sweet cherries, very juicy and richly flavored.  The seeds are a bit large for a small plum, so they would never sell as a fruit tree.  I'm not sure if it is self pollinated, I think so.  I think Methley also has some myrobalan DNA, and is also starting to bloom with about 25% of its flowers open now.  Nadia Plum Cherry hybrid has about 30% of its flowers open, but I'm not sure that such a young tree will behave the same way as a mature specimen.

Peaches and other plums will probably  start to open soon.  I'm seeing significant pink in the swelling buds.  Most of the Asian pears have tufts of flower buds emerging from each bud, so won't be far behind.

I don't know how well the pollinating insects will do with the rain and chilly weather.  I saw a lot of tiny bees on the Crimson Pointe tree and a few on other trees, today.

Unknown Asian Plum, possibly seed grown.  About 50% in bloom.  3.31.17

Hollywood Plum in full bloom.  3.31.17

Crimson Pointe Plum in full bloom.  3.31.17

Spring Flowers. 3.30.17

Each Fall, I buy some bags of daffodil bulbs and plant them.  Over the years, some persist and multiple, while others fizzle out.  In the long run, that means each year there are more and more blooming in the Spring.  I forget where I plant them, so it's a nice surprise.

Grafting Progress Report. 3.31.17

Variegated Plum Seedling, Graft.  3.30.17

So far, most of the grafts look OK.  None have dried out and none look dead.

The pictured graft was made from scion taken from plum seedlings that I grew in 2015.  The seedling leaves were a mixture of red and green.  The plums were purchased at a farm stand.  They had labeled them "Pluots" but I don't know.  They were dark burgundy red plums.  I grafted so that I would have a better chance of fruiting, sooner, if it is going to happen at all.

Other grafts that look like they are starting to grow:  Most of the Asian pears have swelling buds.  The Asian pears and Chinese Haw on hawthorne scrub, have swelling buds. 

Grafting Day. 3.20.17

Image via USDA Image Collection.

Thanks to the Scion Exchange and my fellow fruit growing enthusiasts at the Home Orchard Society, some nice guys, I came home with several varieties that I wanted to graft as soon as I could.

Today was drizzling all day, not too bad for some grafting work, so I spent the afternoon in the home orchard grafting. In general, I leave about 3 inches per scion, and try to make sure it has 3 buds, and the diameter matches the understock. I have not learned bark grafting and cleft grafting for large understock, which just seems to expose the tree to too much potential disease due to the large wound, but it does work for others. So, I look for low branches about the same size of the scion, and use those. For young trees that are still a small size, that seems to work very well for me.

 What I grafted, today and yesterday:

1.  To the injured, new, 4-way Euro plum, I added Yakima plum to a branch that appears to be off the understock, and Yellow Egg plum to replace the Italian plum branch. .

Yellow Egg Plum.  Via USDA Image Collection.

2.  To my Stanley plum tree, I added Jefferson Plum.  I have been unable to find info about that variety.
3.  To the old green plum that came with the Battleground place, which might be a green gage plum, I added Yellow Egg and Yakima.  I usually cut the scions into pieces with 2 buds, so one scion usually gives me a couple of grafts.
4.  To the Rebecca's Gold pawpaw, I added grafts of Wilson pawpaw.  Those were so delicate, and they have flower buds, and I'm not sure they have leaf buds, so who knows if they will take,
5.  To the Illinois Everbearing mulberry, I added Noir de Spain mulberry, 2 grafts.  The internode spaces were very long, so I made those as 1-bud grafts each.  There is a bit if scion remaining, so might add more.
6.  To one multigraft apple, I added Fameuse apple.
7.  To other multigraft apples, I added Dolgo crabapple, Firecracker red flesh apple, and to Jonared, I added Jonathan, which I am curious to see if the redder sport is a sacrifice in flavor compared to the original.
8.  Yesterday I also grafted scion from Fedco, Sweet-16 apple, King David Apple, and Opalescent.  The first 2, I already grafted, but they had so little growth that I want to try again.

Fameuse Apple.  Image via USDA Image Collection.

9.  To an Asian pear tree, I added Chojuro.
10.  To Aromatnaya quince, I added Crimea quince. 
11.  I added spare pieces of scion to the hawthorn thicket, Crimea quince and Chojuro Asian pear.
12.  I also planted cuttings from Limon quince and Aromatnaya quince to see if they grow from Spring planted hardwood cuttings.

That's it for playing in the orchard, grafting.  I did not cut myself - always a good thing.  I know I don't "need" any more fruit varieties, but no harm in grafting on new varieties to see how they do and maybe get a taste in a  couple of years.  They may also help with pollination.  I got to try my hand at grafting some species that I have not tried before - mulberry, pawpaw, quince.  If any - or all -  do poorly or are not good, I can always prune the bad ones off, without losing a tree.  Ditto if one is way to vigorous and takes over a tree.

I'm using images from the USDA image collection.  They are public domain.  I don't know if the USDA will have funding cut and drop the collection, so it's nice to peruse them while there is a chance.