North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>]

Thanks for the excellent suggestions, as usual. I really appreciate it! 
I think I'll try the bolt, with some of the other suggestions, too.


> If you use a stainless steel bolt and nut, and leave some extra 
> length, you can unscrew the nut a few turns every year or so and 
> prevent it from being engulfed.


Wouldn't I want it to be engulfed by the tree?  I would think that would 
make the whole thing stronger. Of course, I'd have to remember there's a 
bolt in there if I ever have to cut it up.


> That crotch might always be a little weaker that the rest, but I read 
> you can aways take some branches that are growing toward each other 
> and twist them together. In time they will become one and may be a 
> natural brace.


That's an interesting idea. I've never done any grafting, and I'm 
hesitant to try, but branches twisted together should be simple enough. 
There aren't any branches right now that would work, and I'd probably be 
better off in this case to try to keep that branch from growing much as 
the tree gets bigger, as Steve suggested. But still, this is a great idea.


> I have been thinking of this last method as a way of insuring rows of 
> bushes from crown borer attacks. If a bushes crown gets girdled the 
> bush can be nourished from the neighboring bushes, till it re-roots. 
> Just a theory.


This is really wild. In this case, you *would* be grafting the branches, 
apparently. But would one plant really be able to nourish the other? 
Will sap flow in both directions - up one branch and down another? This 
isn't directly applicable to my situation, but it certainly caught my 
attention.


> I am assuming that that split is at the lowest branch. If you have a branch 
> below the split I might try to work with that, depending on its location and 
> shape.


There is a branch below this, but it's very low to the ground and its 
crotch angle is nearly 90 degrees. Not something that would make a new 
leader. You must realize that I just planted the tree this year, so I 
haven't been pruning off anything (except trying some minimal summer 
pruning to slow down the growth a bit). The tree was pot-grown, and was 
little more than a twig. It only had one branch, which was already 
thicker than the trunk (though neither were very big). And I've been 
trying from the start to increase the crotch angle, but the braces 
tended to push the trunk away rather than the (larger) branch. The whole 
tree is very limber (too limber, considering how long the branches have 
gotten), but that crotch angle has been stubborn. And of course I 
finally had to go too far...

Again, thanks for all the help, everyone!

Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)

--
It may be that the old astrologers had the truth exactly reversed, when 
they believed that the stars controlled the destinies of men. The time 
may come when men control the destinies of stars. - Arthur C. Clarke