Does it have any chance (apple, I think)

[karen82]

I collected this little stump in a old, abandoned apple orchard. There weren't any full size apple trees left, just meadow and young forest. I found this little stump, not looking too healthy to begin with, but it seemed to have a small rootball and was in loose soil so I collected it. Turned out most of the "rootball" was the roots of grass and weeds around it. It looks like I cut a large tap root, but that root was actually dead and I just neatened it up (actually I trimmed a bit more off the bottom after this photo). Basically it has almost no roots but it didn't have many to begin with. Does it have any chance of surviving?


I know it's nothing especially good but had some movement and bark at least. Some of the roots are too high, but it had so few left that I had to leave them for now.
Also I didnt take a picture of the top but I left one low side branch with buds on it.

 

[Shibui]

If it is an apple there is every chance of it surviving transplant. Yours has way more roots than many I have moved.
I cannot see the bark of the stem clearly enough but does not look like apple from what I can see.
You don't even need buds on the stem for apple to survive. They grow quite readily from root cuttings with no stem at all and can also sprout new buds from all the older, unseen buds on the stem.

 

[karen82]

You are right - upon closer inspection, it definitely isn't apple. I guess I just had apple on the mind with it being an old orchard, plus I collected another that I'm pretty sure actually is apple.
On this one, the bark is a little too greenish brown for apple, plus it has pores which I don't think apples have.
I got some better photos today.
Any idea what it is? (This is the same tree, I just planted it very deep to preserve a few higher roots temporarily, since it had so few).


I've seen yellow birch and striped and mountain maple in the area, though not especially close to this little guy; they have pores like that but it doesn't look quite right for them. I suppose I'll know in a week or two when it leafs out.

 

[Shibui]

Some apples do have white spots on the bark called lenticels but this one still just does not look right for apple.
It will be a whole lot easier when the leaves come out so post again when the leaves have opened up properly (also very hard to ID half open new leaves)

 

[A. Gorilla]

It looks grafted. Why would someone bother to graft a birch or maple at an orchard? Keep whatever sprouts below the graft, if anything. Then the eyesore can be cut off later. Its a nice little rugged nub.

As far as survival, I've collected things with buck naked tap roots (and not much of them) and had strong recoveries.

 

[karen82]

It looks grafted. Why would someone bother to graft a birch or maple at an orchard? Keep whatever sprouts below the graft, if anything. Then the eyesore can be cut off later. Its a nice little rugged nub.

As far as survival, I've collected things with buck naked tap roots (and not much of them) and had strong recoveries.

I don't think it's grafted, just going by how long the orchard has been abandoned (probably around 30 years going by the ages of some of the wild trees that have been growing). I don't think this is that old. It just looks like something killed off the leader and a side shoot took over - twice, I think - so the current leader is much younger than the rest.

 

[Shibui]

I agree with you Karen. Some people seem to see grafts in every stem they look at.

 

[A. Gorilla]

I agree with you Karen. Some people seem to see grafts in every stem they look at.

Its a guilty pleasure.

 

[karen82]

I haven't forgotten this thread, I've been watching this stump with anticipation but the leaves haven't quite opened enough to id yet. The two buds present on it when I collected are almost open, though, and it has many more little buds popping all over.
I will get some photos of it when it opens a bit more. I don't think it's a maple anymore, it seems to have a simple leaf though the leaves are still pretty much curled up.

 

[Shibui]

This was never a maple. It has alternate buds. All maples have opposite growth pattern.

 

[karen82]

Yeah, I am leaning towards birch. Not a great species for bonsai but since I have it, I will try it.

 

[ThornBc]

It looks like a poplar to me, possibly Populus balsamifera given the location

 

[HorseloverFat]

Looks “Cottonwood”-y

But is definitely Balsamifera.. I’d bet.

I see many a Poplus on my “treks”...

 

[HorseloverFat]

Just for study group “turfs” sake , where (roughly, or smoothly) located in Wisconsin? Closer to; Green Bay, Milwaukee, Madison, LaCrosse, Marinette??

Out of THESE.. I am closer to Green Bay... on the Door County Line..

Just trying to put some groups together.

 

[karen82]

I only just noticed this message now. I'm closest to Green Bay of those.
As for the tree. I'm pretty sure it's a silver or hybrid birch. Probably won't make a good bonsai but I'm going to try it for a few years, if it doesn't seem promising after that, it will become a yard tree.

 

[ThornBc]

To be honest, now that I've seen it more in leaf I'm actually even more convinced it's a poplar. It ticks all the boxes and I'm familiar with both poplars and birches. The bark matches my poplars and none of the birches I've worked with either!

 

[62veedub]

It lived, thats the important part!

 

[karen82]

It could be a poplar, the bark color is close to poplars around here. The leaves were birch-sized (smaller than poplar) but that could be from the stress of collecting and being potted.
I suppose poplars are even worse than birches for bonsai but I think I will still give it a try. And I will try to collect some more suitable trees this spring.

 

[ThornBc]

@karen82 I would add photos but I'm on my phone at the moment, I work in a garden centre and it often happens plants arrive with seedlings growing as weeds in the pots. These are often chopped flush at nurseries rather than removed, to save time...until they get to me. This year I removed several poplars and kept one, it went from having leaves that size to larger than my hand within a season. It also grew about 3 feet. They don't make great bonsai but I'm keeping it to experiment too