Can you post a pic of what the stump looks like?

You might as well start pinching and pruning excess sprouts because there will be lots of them for at least several yrs. Leaving a mess of them will just make it harder to clean things up down the road.

I'd wait and let the tree recover and do its thing, before you start messing with it. It will decide which of the sprouts will be the strongest ones.

Yes, I could try to post a pic, needinfo001. The tree is a ravine in the middle of one of our fields, a good quarter of a mile away from our house (and hard to get to--you have to wade through a bunch of weeds), so it might take me a few days, but I'll try. ;)

Thanks for your input, fruitnut and rayrose, as well, You-all gave opposite advice, so I'll have to ponder the matter over some more. :)

If you only allowed one sprout to grow then the tree would put all it's energy into that one sprout.

milehighgirl wrote:

"If you only allowed one sprout to grow then the tree would put all it's energy into that one sprout."

Thanks, milehighgirl. So I shouldn't be unduly concerned about picking the "wrong" sprout at this point? :)

I agree with MHG and others why grow 50 sprouts? I would grow the one or two strongest looking sprouts per trunk and cut the others off. You will need to cut the sprouts off once a month or so for awhile. Similarly when we graft we get a lot of excess growth and we cut it off because that takes away from the main grafted branch you are trying to grow. Growing one or two branches will allow the tree to recover to a fruiting tree again in 3-4 years or maybe sooner.

OK, I've finally got a couple of photos of the tree and sprouts. Here they are:

{{gwi:125230}}
{{gwi:125231}}

ClarkinKS wrote:

"I agree with MHG and others why grow 50 sprouts?"

Well, maybe because sprouts taste so good in salads? ;)

"I would grow the one or two strongest looking sprouts per trunk and cut the others off. You will need to cut the sprouts off once a month or so for awhile....Growing one or two branches will allow the tree to recover to a fruiting tree again in 3-4 years or maybe sooner."

Thanks, Clark. OK, so that means to leave at least 2 sprouts, or up to 4. I think the tallest one in the photo above is a good bet.

The sprouts might be too tender to survive the winter, well, maybe not in GA, but still, I'd wait until next growing season to do anything.

I have 2 pear trees that lost their grafted tops years ago, and there are now 3 trunks on each where sprouts have exploded upward. Each has been regrafted with several good pear varieties. You may want to consider trying some grafting with varieties that work well in your area. With all the potential sprouts coming up, even if some grafts fail you will have multiple other shoots that could respond well to your grafted scions.

i am wondering of this is an invasive callery pear ... no where is it stated it was a fruit bearing plant ... and being self sown under a power line.. sure brings a birds butt into thought ...

second.. that is the utility easement that it is planted in .. the utility has every right to clear the lines ... that is why it is called an easement ... it on your mortgage documents ...

all trees.. continue to grow upwards.. they only stop growing up.. when they die ... to say it was 50 feet.. and not going to grow any higher... is not consistent with how trees grow ...

if you lived in snow country ... where a 2 or 3 day power loss in winter is possible .. when its zero outside ... you would not be happy.. if the utility did not proper clear lines to insure power .. especially if its an ice storm ... we kinda have a different view up here in MI ... about proper maintenance of utilities ..

as far as i am concerned.. the only thing they did wrong.. was not kill the stump ...

ken

Sarah80 wrote:

"The sprouts might be too tender to survive the winter, well, maybe not in GA, but still, I'd wait until next growing season to do anything."

OK, thanks, Sarah80--maybe I'll just hold off till next spring.
-------------------

copingwithclay wrote:

"With all the potential sprouts coming up, even if some grafts fail you will have multiple other shoots that could respond well to your grafted scions."

Thanks for the interesting idea, copingwithclay.

ken_adrian wrote:

"i am wondering of this is an invasive callery pear ..."

What is a callery pear?

"no where is it stated it was a fruit bearing plant ..."

It did bear fruit.

"and being self sown under a power line.. sure brings a birds butt into thought ..."

I don't know whether it was self-sown--I just know it's probably at least 50 years old.

"second.. that is the utility easement that it is planted in .. the utility has every right to clear the lines ... that is why it is called an easement ... it on your mortgage documents ..."

Can you please tell me why, for the past 35 years, they never had a problem with the tree, and in fact never even attempted to trim it?

"all trees.. continue to grow upwards.. they only stop growing up.. when they die"

Are you saying that no fruit tree has a maximum height?

"... to say it was 50 feet.."

Huh? Who said that?

"and not going to grow any higher... is not consistent with how trees grow ..."

In the past 35 years, it hasn't grown much taller. So, if it was getting taller, it was doing so very slowly, and the tree was not even close to reaching the power lines.

"if you lived in snow country ... where a 2 or 3 day power loss in winter is possible .. when its zero outside ... you would not be happy.. if the utility did not proper clear lines to insure power .. especially if its an ice storm ... we kinda have a different view up here in MI ... about proper maintenance of utilities ..."

If a tree is a genuine threat to the power lines, I can understand. But if this tree was such a "threat," then why did the power company completely ignore it for 35 years?

"as far as i am concerned.. the only thing they did wrong.. was not kill the stump ..."

Heh heh. I'm glad they didn't. ;) Besides, they seem way too lazy to do a thorough job anyway. They cut a bunch of branches, left them lying all over the place, and then didn't bother to clean anything up until we nagged them, and they did a good bit of littering as well.

I just did a Web search on Callery pears. The fruit doesn't look the same, so no, I don't think it was a Callery pear. Also, that kind of tree is supposed to have a peculiar smell, which this tree did not.