Unfortunately, I doubt many will see your post in this obscure photo sub-forum. Also, I am a little uncertain about some wording in your post, but I think I understand the general idea. Trees can often cover over their wounds if they are growing vigorously and are in good health. You mentioned that your tree has been "pruned to be very sparse". That sounds like you are making it much harder for the tree to successfully recover. Starving the tree of food by limiting it's foliage and forcing it to overcome pruning wounds would certainly present obstacles to the tree's recovery. It is unlikely that removing a section of trunk would be the way to go. A bridge graft might help, but is probably not worth the trouble. Again, what you need to do is to increase the tree's vigor, and the best way to do that might be to leave it alone for a while! And, yes, the plaster cast is a crazy (bad) idea.

Pam, the magnolia tree in the picture was the champ for MS before they found a tree in Jones County that got more points - it isn't as tall as the Benndale tree, but it has a considerably bigger spread, and is the national champion. I've seen the picture of the Jones County tree, and it looks to me like two mag grands that have merged, so, as far as I'm concerned, the Benndale tree is the national champion, at least it was before the hurricane, when it had a huge canopy. I took this picture of what was left of the canopy after the storm - pitiful! Once hunting season is over and it's been dry long enough that I won't bog down on the dirt roads you have to drive on to get to the tree, I'll go see how many and how big its new branches are. Another giant swallowtail has emerged today. I keep my chrysalids in my unheated guest bedroom with the door shut, and I think the very cold weather we had followed by this warm spell has made a few of them "think" it's spring! Giant swallowtails start off life as eggs on the leaf of a member of the citrus family, which can be cultivated fruit trees, or cold hardy host plants like hops tree/ptelea trifoliata, hercules club/zanthoxylum clava-herculis, prickly-ash/z. americanum, and rue/ruta graveolens. The egg hatches out a caterpillar, which eats the leaves of its host plant until it grows to a certain size, at which point it pupates and becomes a chrysalid. Caterpillars usually wander off the host plant to a nearby tree or shrub or other structure, so chrysalids are usually found in nature somewhere close to the host plant, but my chrysalids come from caterpillars I raise myself in ventilated cages on my porch to keep them safe from predators. When I find an early instar (very small) caterpillar on the host plant, I cut the leaf with the caterpillar off (or sometimes an entire small branch) and put it in a water pick, which is a little plastic thing that you put water in to keep the cuttings fresh, sort of like little "vases." They form their chrysalids on the inside of their roomy cages - outside, a big percentage of chrysalids are lost to the ravages of the weather and predators, so keeping them inside gives me plenty to release each spring, more than would naturally occur. By keeping them in a cool/cold but not freezing room, most of them don't emerge until late February, March or April, but there are always a few that emerge too soon, like these two. Here's a picture I made last year of some pupating giant swallowtail caterpillars - the first and third things from the right are giant swallowtail chrysalids, which is what the butterfly in the picture came out of. The brown and white scrunched up caterpillars are pupating, soon to become chrysalids. Once spring has set in for good, I'll be working outside a lot, but I'm sure I'll still post on the Butterfly AND Tree Forums. Hurricane Katrina really got me into the 'tree business' and I know I'll continue to want to ask questions and share my experiences with other tree lovers. Most butterfly host plants are trees, so the two go together. On another thread on this forum where elm trees are discussed, a poster asked me why I chose one type of American elm over another type - well, shape doesn't matter too much in the woods, but elms are a host plant for question marks and several other butterflies and moths, so shape was the last thing on my mind when I ordered mine! :) And I sure hope you'll keep us posted about your big tree project, Pam! Sherry

pteroceltis, It looks like you have a bit more experience with this tree than I do. As you can see by my User Name, I'm a big fan of Acer griseum. Here's what I do know that may help you: Seeds: Most seeds contain an embryo and hardly any endosperm to speak of. Another plant that shares this characteristic is the orchid. Understanding how the orchid propagates naturally by seed, I think, can help us understand how griseum does as well. The orchid bursts out millions of dust-like seeds on the forest floor. Those that land on a specific fungi will find the nutrients necessary for the seed to germinate. On their own, they do not have the CHO or the proteins to create roots or shoots. Likewise, griseum needs a food-source for germination. Also, the casing is extremely hard and thick. Scarification really isn't enough. It's a wonder that the tree has made it this far in evolution. Forgive me if you don't believe in evolution. Whether we came from a similar ancestor as the monkey or not, plants do adapt over time, and natural selection does occur. Anyway, some propagators have had success using this understanding and have almost surgically removed the embryos and placed them in a nutrient-rich petri-dish. The embryo germinates and we have a new plant. Vegetative propagation: The general rule is, the younger the stem tissue, the more likely it will root. Seedling cuttings root pretty easily. But, seedlings are small and have very little stem to use. It's like a cycle: Take a seedling, cut it, root it, you now have another seedling. And, to get the original seedling, you have to get the seed to germinate. The trick we use is to almost force the well-established stock plant to succor: Hack it down low to the ground. Then, several immature stems come up. Then, use those to root. But, you have to let it grow green a little to continue to feed the roots. So, let one stem grow as a leader for the season. Ok, that's griseum. But, the other plant you mentioned was cappadocicum. I will not pretend to be an expert on this plant. I know that it is related to truncatum; which easily hybridizes with platanoides (Norway). Is Norway not an aggressive weed up in your part of the country? So, my assumption - and sorry this was so long - my assumption is that Forestfarm used cappadocicum as a rootstock because of it's aggressive tendencies to your area. But, it is not as aggressive as platanoides. So, you have a rootstock that will be extremely successful in your area with an ornamental top. Here's the concern: Maples are broken down into several groups. There really should be several genus' to break them down. Perhaps there will some day. For example, the Sugar Maple Group contains: Sugar, Silver, Red, Bigtooth Boxelder, Black, and some others. Japanese, for example, is not one of them. Nor is griseum. However, Boxelder is. Follow me here. The more related they are, the more compatible they are and the more likely the graft will take and last. I talked with a professor by e-mail at Penn State a few years ago. He was doing a test on graft compatibility of a Red scion and a Sugar stock. It looked successful for six years. During the seventh year, the graft split and the trees fell at the graft. I don't know if griseum and cappadocicum are in the same group or not. I don't believe they are. However, Boxelder is trifolate and is in the Sugar group. cappadocicum is almost a webbed palm. As far as maples go, there isn't a more entire leaf that I've seen. It's the flower, fruit and seed that determines the relatedness, not the leaf. So, I'd ask Forestfarm just how long this union has lasted in their experience. Just because it took in the greenhouse and lasted a few years at the farm, does not mean it will last for a lifetime in someone's landscape. I'm sorry if I confused or frustrated you. I just want you to understand why I would check with the grower their success on it. I'd hate your favorite tree to fall over one of the years during a wind storm. ericpaul

If you've not grafted, you better get a dozen seedlings. They should already be potted. And the easiest time to graft is the last week of July - the second week of August. When you get the seedlings, cut off the lower branches on the bottom 1/3 so they'll be ready, you should order them now. Then at the end of July, put a camping tent in your garage (no light necessary) and you're going to keep your grafts inside the closed camping tent for 14-21 days. When you cut your scions from the host tree, you'll want them to be about pencil thickness or less. Next, remove all the leaves from the scion only, not from the potted seedling. When you remove the leaves, you want to keep the petioles on (a petiole is what holds a leaf to the stem). Graft them. Be sure the potted seedling understocks are on the dry side (not dry, just not real wet). If you graft on soaked seedlings that will cause the sap to run and your grafts will not be successful. You'll know if the graft(s) take if the petioles fall off and a bud pushed up from underneath. That bud will not be visible prior to grafting, however is very visible, if the graft is successful. Lastly, do not water the seedling understocks/rootstocks very much for 10-14 days. You want to give them only enough water so they stay alive. After 14 days you can water them as much as you would like to. The grafts, after they are removed from the camping tent go to light shade. Keep the understock on (the portion of your seedling above the attached/healed/scion until such a time the following spring after the scion you grafted to the seedling grows a full set of leaves, then cut off the seedling, above the scion so the only thing now growing is the scion you grafted. The camping tent provides the humidity needed... Your scion(s) should have at least 3 sets of buds... Dax