can i revive my apple tree?

[raptorvan]

About a decade ago we "cut down" our apple tree. Took it dow except the trunk. The truck is easily rockable. It moves freely. However...about

6yrs ago it began to develop new branches and has grown a new section even though the trunk is so easily movable. A couple years ago it began to flower and produce small fruits. Last summer i tasted a few that had actually turned red which is something that never happened to the origional sections which is why we cut it down. They tasted great but they were small and not all of them turned.

So now i want to revive this tree so it produces a real harvest. Right now i will grow a few dozen small apples and about half of them make it to maturity. How can i restore this tree? By all acounts everything appears dead except the new growth. The trunk barely has any back besides the one side that has the new growth. Can this tree be saved or will it just kind of limp along?

[songbird]

look into a technique called "grafting" as that will likely be the best method for saving this particular tree.

what is growing is diseased and damaged, if you can take a branch and graft it on fresh rootstock then you will have a much healthier tree to base your next efforts upon.

and of course, there is no need to do only one graft. often people will take many grafts and some of them work out (and others don't).

songbird

[thomaspoul]

Of course you can...try!!!