North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Thomas Olenio <tolenio@sentex.net>]

Hello,

It is the old roots that will be your issue.  Roots compete using
biological warfare, or they try to kill each other.

That said, dig a large hole 5-6 feet across, remove all the old roots, and
plant the new tree in the center of the hole.  By the time the roots of
the new tree reach the old roots beyond your planting hole, they will be
long dead, and not an issue.

Get out as many of the old large roots that you can.

Later,
Tom

--
Southwest Ontario
Canada Hardiness Zone 6a
(similar to US zone 5)

On Wed, 2 Oct 2002, Ginda Fisher wrote:

> Last summer I lost a crab apple to the drought.  I had grafted about 8
> cultivars to it, and I wonder if it was also infected with some virus,
> as I didn't notice any widespread problems with the local crabs, despite
> the lack of water.  Anyhow, this spring it had barely any leaves, and
> despite a lot of TLC, it is now completely dead.
>
> I would like to plant another apple in the spot, possibly a crab, or
> possibly a eating type.  It doesn't get full sun, but the crab bloomed
> and fruited nicely until it died.
>
> 1)  Is it a really bad idea to put another apple tree in the same spot?
> I don't have any other place that would be at all suitable for an apple,
> so it is there or nowhere.  Of course, I could plant something different
> there.
>
> 2)  Does the reliable fruiting of the crab suggest there's enough sun
> for an eating apple, or do larger fruited types need more light?
>
> 3)  If I do replant with an apple, I'm considering Ashmead's Kernel,
> from Fedco.  Of all the mail order apples we've tried from AppleSource,
> this was the one the family liked most.  (Among other things, this
> suggests it keeps well without refrigeration, as most of the other types
> tasted like they'd gotten too warm in shipping.)  Fedco sells standard
> size trees - does anyone know how large this one is likely to get in
> eastern Mass., zone 6?  Does anyone know what rootstock they use for
> "standard" trees?
>
> Thanks,
> Ginda Fisher
>
> p.s.  the nearby woods are full of wild crabs, so we have plenty of
> pollenizers for all apples, and plenty of disease pressure.
>
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