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Fruit & Orchards

Fruit Tree Damage - Any chance of survival

13 years ago

Hi all,

First time poster, but have previously found lots of useful information on this forum.

My neighbor's stone pine tree fell on my property and smashed two of my fruit trees - Maru Persimmon and Shinseki Pear. All that is left of my three-year old (from bare root) trees is about 3-4 feet of the central leader remaining.

My questions are: Is there any use that can be made from those trees or should I just get them out of the ground as soon as possible and move on with planting some new ones? I was wondering if I should experiment with some grafting or something else.

If I should get rid of them, is it okay to use the same hole for my new trees? I am thinking about putting a chocolate persimmon where the Shinseki was and a Double Delight where the Maru persimmon was. Do I need to do something special with the hole (i.e., make sure to get all the roots out, spray some chemical, etc)

Thanks in advance for the help.

Pete

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Comments (5)

alan haigh
13 years ago
If they were vigorous and healthy trees I expect they'll send out some shoots in a few days after onset of warm weather and will be back to themselves in half the time of replacements.

Choose a single shoot to become your new trunk, obviously the most vigorous one, and pinch back the competition.

Persimmon I'm not sure about as far as generating new shoots from old wood but the pear should definitely rebound quickly from this unfortunate incident.
creekweb
13 years ago
Your persimmon should regrow (and quicker than it had originally) from this severe pruning , but be sure to identify the location of the original graft and remove any watersprouts that may now be induced to emerge from below that point.
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Oh, incidentally Ianna, you may be interested in this old account from Mr. S. Powers, who wrote to The Cultivator and Country Gentleman in March of 1884: "The Spring Campaign against Insects: If the farmer was provident enough to tie up young fruit trees last fall with newspapers, as a protection against rabbits (and it is a sufficient protection if carefully done), he ought, as soon as the danger from this source is passed, to remove the wrappings. If they are left on, they form a convenient refuge for aphides or lice, and soon the bark will be wounded and disfigured." I posted that account somewhere else a while ago...can't recall where... But if you confirm that the damage was from rabbits or mice, and it looks as if the tree is going to survive this season, you'll want to provide some sort of guard for the next winter. Here is a link that might be useful: The Heirloom Orchardist
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estreya, as calistoga suggests go easy on your cleanup pruning , keep it at a minimum. i used havaheart deer repellent in conjunction with my inadequate fencing and it kept the rascals at bay until i improved fences. expensive but effective as a temporary solution. i'm speaking from hard experience last year as between the animal damage and my following inept/inexperienced pruning i surely set some trees back. the worst experience was cutting the browsed central leaders back and watching them die back 1-6 inches and then repeating the act after another browsing. my cleanup pruning was better rcvd by the trees after dormancy. if i can get some habeneros to mature before the snow in this years extremely short growing season , i also will try to make some homemade repellent. lf it comes together i will report it on gw. good luck with the hoofed stinkpots ! wildlifeman
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Magpie: You can make it a lot easier for us to help you if you would tell us where you live. I guess I could figure it out from the zipcode, but that's the hard way. Understanding your climate can be very helpful in diagnosing problems. Agree with Scott that planting bareroot trees is better than locally purchased containerized trees, but it also sounds as if you may have done it too late -- again depending on your location and climate. Allowing the trees to sit around a few weeks before planting certainly didn't help. And with respect to your watering issues, have you had any natural rainfall at all, and how is your soil composition and drainage? Without knowing much context, I would have to guess that you planted the containerized trees in a ball after digging out a hole in fairly impermeable clay or other such soil. Planting in this way creates a "bowl" effect in which water is held within the immediate planting area in the softer, more absorbent material of the container soil. If you planted in this way, and then watered frequently, you may indeed have drowned the trees. So my suggestions are: Start a lot earlier, don't plant containerized trees, and loosen up the soil in a wide area around the planting hole when putting in fruit trees. It is always a lot more difficult to transplant fully-leafed trees in an active phase of growth than dormant trees. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
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donnieappleseed
13 years ago
I don't think you would need to worry about "fumigating" the soil for something so un-established (but am not an expert on this)......and I definitely don't think you would need to worry about even replanting.....I agree with Hman's perception and would be willing to bet that this tree will re-sprout.

Am continually amazed at how sturdy trees (and fruit trees) are.....I don't believe I have ever killed one by pruning.....am also amazed at how much people are worried about killing them by pruning too much or at the wrong time, etc, etc. Trees need care, yes, but they are also tough.....often tougher than we think.

The story of one of our oldest pear trees, the Endicott Pear, is almost a comi-tragedy at just how many times this pear tree was destroyed......only to come back to life again.....year after year....for literally hundreds of years. Try getting a link here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endicott_Pear_Tree
peterechs
Original Author
13 years ago
Good news all -

It looks like my two trees that suffered severe damage are still alive and have started to put out new "greenery". I hesitate to call them leaves or branches at this point since they look like nothing more than tiny thorns.

Thanks to all who provided answers that prevented me to from yanking them out of the ground unnecessarily.

pete
alan haigh
13 years ago
They will now grow like bats out of hell with all the established roots pumping them. If you want to try grafting, save an extra upright or few and put grafts on them next year. After a year or 2 or serious growth grafts can be spread to make scaffolds.

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