You could try air layering it or late next winter you can cut some of the branches off and have then grafted to a suitable rootstock. You might even be able to root some new growth on the tree using rooting hormone.

Good Luck!

they are all grafted plants ... which means the roots are not the pretty tree above ...

rooting trees.. is extremely hit or miss ... short of professional greenhouse systems ... and timing is of the essence .. and its usually NOT spring ...

you can try.. just dont expect much ...

it doesnt sound like you have time for the beans layering method ...

ken

Actually, flowering crabs take very easily from cuttings and softwood cuttings taken now are ideal.

1)Fill
a 6-inch plastic container with a mix of equal measures peat and coarse
sand. Soak the peat in water before mixing it with the sand.

2)Gather
a 5- to 7-inch-long tip cutting with several sets of young leaves on
the tip and a pliant stem. Cut the stem 1/4 inch below a set of leaves
with bypass shears. (best to take mulitple cuttings to ensure at least a few will 'take' and produce roots)

3)Strip
off the mature leaves along the lower one-third of the crabapple
cutting. Coat this lower area of the stem with 0.8-percent IBA
(indolebutyric acid) rooting hormone.

4)Stick
the hormone-coated end of the crabapple cutting into the prepared
container. Press it in until the lowest set of leaves rests on the
surface of the growing mixture. Firm the mixture around the base of the
cutting.

5)Place
the potted crabapple cutting outdoors in a sheltered area with filtered
light. Protect it from wind and direct sun to prevent the leaves from
drying out.

6)Drizzle
water onto the growing mixture just around the base of the cutting.
Maintain constant moisture in the peat mixture, but allow it to become
nearly dry just below the surface.

7)Provide
intermittent mist with an automated system or by spritzing the cutting
two or three times a day with a spray bottle. Make sure to mist the
undersides of the leaves, if you're using a spray bottle.

8)Gently tug
on the crabapple cutting in four to six weeks to check for roots. Feel if
the cutting sticks to the growing medium rather than moving freely when
you pull it.

9)Leave
the rooted crabapple cutting in partial shade for the remainder of
summer. Transplant it into a sunny bed with well-draining soil in early
fall, around mid-October.

Just be sure you're using a section from the top of the plant. You very likely would not be getting the same plant wee you to root a sucker from the base, that likely being a different apple altogether. That's what Gal means by a "tip", should it be anything less than obvious.

+oM

Thank you so much for the suggestions--I'm going to try each one just to be sure I am able to get at least one little tree! I was thinking of digging up some of the roots and try starting a tree that way, but I understand now that that probably won't work. Time is not on my side but I will persevere and do all I can to hold on to a bit of nature that is doomed tol be bulldozed someday. I am hoping no one buys the land for development-- I'd much rather have trees and some scrub brush than a strip mall!