Hi, Scott, et al, In a different forum/thread, I posted the same question: i.e. do 4 saplings growing close form a single trunk of a solid single core or multiple cores, and 'Brandon6b' replied that, if this did happen, the core/tree-formed may rot. I hope this isn't the case: my reply..... That is very disappointing: that the rot will occur and sometimes will be the cause of premature tree death. In nature, I've seen enormous threes that seem to survive this natural arrangement, or maybe I'm not interpreting the observation correctly: there are 4+ large trunks that are growing so closely that, for the first few feet, the run in parallel contact with one another; maybe they are not 4 separate trees (of the same species and size) but 4 separate suckers coming from the same root system. Maybe a way out of this issue is to get this to happen early on: to arrange the 4 saplings (that are of 1" diameters or so) only 2" apart from each other; to me, it would seem that this would have to cause a single solid tree trunk of the 4. I hope I can figure this out soon, because the saplings are on their way in the mail and are bare root. Thanks, Steve

Well... of course, as soon as I post this I find a list from the Arbor Day order (or at least, I think it was that year's order). No idea which is which (which of the ones that came in this bundle actually survived), but could the third photo be a young Sargeant Crabapple? That's on the list, as is Eastern Redbud, Washington Hawthorn, dogwood (I know it's not that), Goldenraintree and crapemyrtle (I remember wondering why on earth they were shipping crapemyrtles to New England!!) In theory (meaning assuming they sent what they said they were sending), it should be one of those -- and the crabapple seems like the only one it could be? I'd be floored if they were shipping free Bradford pears (which is what someone on Name that Plant thought it was as well) -- aren't they considered more or less invasive plants in a lot of areas these days? So I'm hoping for Sargeant crabapple since I wouldn't mind having one of those for the birds (means the little guy can stay right where he is now, in the bird/butterfly garden).

I had to prune mine up this spring to get rid of branch stubs left by the rabbits. The snow was so deep, the rabbits were able to nip branch's halfway up the tree. And these trees tend to explode with branches in spring, going in every direction, up, down crisscrossing and along the existing branches. Mine might have bled a little or even for a while but I really didn't pay much attention. And it would've bled from the rabbit nips even if I didn't prune. You aren't going to hurt an amur maple (acer ginnala) by bleeding anyways. Most people just let them go 'Au natural' and they produce quite a large, shrub like appearance. It's the only tree in my yard that got zero supplemental water during the drought period for the last two years. On sandy ground with sand subsoil. There are several others in the neighborhood too that are unattended and still grow remarkably well. A good portion of the leaves are gone on mine, but it just looks better, to me anyways. eta: I don't know if I'll do any future pruning. The way these trees send out new branches, from everywhere along the trunk and old branches, it may be futile. When I think about it though, I was just trying to establish a single trunk on mine, so all it takes is to snap on a 'rabbit tube' to protect it over winter. ;-)

Generally speaking, without closeup picture of the leaves, buds, bark and flowers, we can still most likely presume this is some kind of plum or cherry trees. These belong to the Rosaceae family of which there are 4,828 species in 91 genera, including apples. So, if those trees are the source of the problem, you'll have quite a time protecting him/her from this type of allergen because these are ubiquitous. (There is a 'Name that Plant Forum' on these boards). Have you seen the pup eating or chewing on plant materiel or anything else that might upset his stomach? Many kinds of plants can have a mildly to modest toxicity if taken internally and if they eat grass, they can vomit from that. It might be best to keep the pup out of the yard during pollination time, but sorry, I am not a veterinarian and have no idea if pollens from these trees can cause any of the symptoms you describe.