(Viron) …I topwork… Actually, that’s where I suspect there might be a need or desire on the part of many residents having no idea their “ornamental†fruit trees could actually be producing fruit. You don’t necessarily have to ‘stump them,’ but you do need to allow enough sunlight in for successful growth of the grafts (scions) ...which can look very gnarly until new growth fills the voids.
I think there are a number of neighborhoods where there would be interest, mine (Richmond, frequently considered "Hawthorne") being one of them.
Perhaps blanket a neighborhood with flyers; candidates would be very easy to spot, with trees between the sidewalk and street. Is that considered public property..?
The planting strip is definitely public property, as is the sidewalk it is behind. The homeowner is entirely responsible for both, of course, which means most of us feel quite possessive. I did some pruning for my neighborhood tree committee (there are such organizations), and became aware of the great number of ornamental crabs. It would be nice if someone, perhaps Friends of Trees, which coordinates many of the plantings, had a list of what's where.
I suspect some magnificent publicity could be had! …we’d need a PR person; a scout; grafter and ground crew. I know I’ve mentioned this before … but this organization definitely has the talent to pull something like this off.
We definitely do, and I would love to be involved in it. I think we'd need as many scouts as we could get, identifying potential candidates in our neighborhoods.
Did some major topworking last spring for a fellow HOS member (I actually teach that portion of our annual grafting classes). After some serious chainsaw work, and armed with wonderful HOS scions of apple, pear and plum, of 66 scions I grafted 65 are ready for training… It works! …question is, is America ready for such a makeover
And that was just you, by yourself? We can do this.
Marsha, new subject, good idea 
Giving this more thought today, I came up with Expensive… The best grafts, in fact the only grafts that work on well established trees are Bark Grafts. Waiting until the bark ‘slips’ – not tears – is crucial. After that … I’m not sure how far into the growing season this could/should be done?
Actually, a problem could be solved (thinking out loud) by working further into the season. Removing large portions of established trees while they’re dormant takes the tree out of balance. Lacking those branches to feed, the tree pushes up all the sucker growth it can. If, after sending its stored energy into a branch that is sawn off after leafing out -- that would eliminate the excess energy. The next problem would be feeding its root system with a vastly reduced energy gathering network (or leaves).
This type of work would need to be done fast & furious if going ‘large scale.’ Likely within a month, at best… Scion wood would have to remain pristine, and weather conditions, which are very unstable that time of year, can hamper both the joy and practicality of grafting...
There would be some massive piles of excess ‘flowing trees’ to deal with… Big chipper or large bed trucks? There would also be the necessity of follow-up, especially the following Spring as the scions should be trained into limbs… Also, there’d remain the serious potential for vandalism, if only the ‘curiosity’ of youngsters. – no bright grafting seal or flags!
And what about varieties? How ‘picky’ would the homeowner be? Most I’ve dealt with are happy to take ‘my recommendation,’ but hunting down a specific cultivar could be cumbersome - and I’ve learned from experience not to rely on ‘their source.’ And… the possible and likely transmission of viruses..? I’ve a yard full, thanks to the donated scions I trusted from past exchanges (which is why I don’t provide many to our event). If a specimen tree broke out with Anthracnose or Arial Crown Gall – what then?
Are those enough reasons to keep this dream in the pipe or what 
…I know I’ve given this thought over the years … and Topworking’s worked for many people, but the public can be fickle…
Something to consider when grafting to crab apples. Some species are sensitive to viruses that cause few or no symptoms in domestic apples. The classic example is stem pitting virus, which may not show symptoms in the scion variety, but can weaken or kill the crab apple rootstock. Using virus free scions is the way to prevent problems.
I have a yellow transparent apple in my front yard. Every fall I'm picking up the apples before passersby step and fall on the dropped apples. I'm thinking that 2009 is the last year for that, I have several apple trees in my backyard that provide more than enough apples for my use. My idea is I'll cut the yellow transparent tree back to about 5' height and graft on two or three colors of flowering crab - red, white, & pink. I think it will be a very unique tree that way. I'll probably do whip and tongue grafts to water sprouts or small diameter branches rather than trying bark grafts. If I don't succeed this year I'll try again next year on the regrowth I'm sure the tree will send out. Any suggestions for superior cultivars in different colors? Will the disease problem that Lonrom mentioned on 12/10 be of any consequence for putting flowering crab on fruiting rootstock?
Last spring I topworked two wild cherry trees in my front yard with weeping cherry scion. I put the graft 12' up on the trees, will be sort of a "cherry palm" when they get going.
Idyllwild
simplepress
jafar
Marsha H
Viron
John S
1 Guest(s)