Thanks folks, Further research seems to say that I can graft most sour cherries in addition to the Lappins. I was thinking of trying bud graft on the branches of the smaller trees this summer (mostly out of impatiance) but it is probobly better to wait and do a bunch of whip and tounge next spring. I might also try Konrads bark grafting technique, but his comments to the thinness of the pin cherry bark make me think it might not be a great place to learn that particualr method. Konrad I agree, I don't much care for the apearance of small sticks on a cut off stub...I may just take out the bigger trees completely, or I may cut them back lower and allow them to send up their own shoots to graft to later as you suggest. Would there be any advantage to summer bud grating vs next spring with W+T?... other than perhaps stretching a supply of scion material a bit further? Is there any reason I cannot work over the entire top of the smaller trees in one go if I wait till next spring?

i am in an 8 week drought.. many trees and shrubs are shedding some leaves ... what is your status??? suckers are most likely irrelevant to the diagnosis ken

tom: "On the other hand folks who use wood for woodworking projects (that is air dried lumber) must only harvest lumber in winter, when healthy trees have reached their natural "dry" cycle. Much of the sap really does store in the roots during the winter. That's when they must be cut. This minimizes warping and checking in the drying process." I find this surprizing. I am a timberland owner, and I produce the highest quality logs I can. I cut my timber when I can, and have cut in both winter and summer. Some of the logs I have custom sawn and then I sell the lumber. Some I sell as logs. There is no price diffferential, and no one has ever expressed any preference for logs cut at one time or another. One exception is veneer logs. Generally these are cut in late fall or winter. But I was told by my veneer log buyer that the reason for this is the "shelf life" of the logs is longer in cold weather. He said that the veneer logs should be sliced when very fresh. But more recently he said that he could do some buying in summer due to some new log handling methods his company had adopted. Now if I think as logically as I can about this sap business, I am really stuck for a good reason why there should be any difference. The only part of a tree that has moving sap is the sapwood. The heartwood, the portion that is the largest part of the wood of most larger trees, does not have active sap/water moving cells. With species such as oak and cherry, the sapwood layer is relatively thin, and this lighter colored sapwood is generally not used for the higher grade furniture, and its presence in a piece of lumber knocks the grade, and price, way down. So, based on what I know about how trees "work," and how lumber is sawn and graded, I don't understand why there should be any real difference. --Spruce

I think mary liss is our native pin cherry, prunus pensylvanica, you find them in the bush, we have lots up here. If I was you, go with the Evans sour cherry, about 10 X larger berry and make excellent jam. Pick them just before the frost for higher sugar content. [if birds don't get them]. Not sure what you mean by seed rapidly. Evans can stay on the bush if you don't pick them right over winter and dry up..birds will eat some, not messy, nice fall color.