A week ago I snapped this photo of my one producing red chokecherry tree:
I was out of town all week and was hoping they would not peak before I returned. Wishful thinking as the tree was completely stripped bare when I got out to the farm yesterday. The birds certainly had a feast.
But . . . I have another tree . . .
These are golden or yellow chokecherries. They have the same great flavor with a little less astringency. They were a few days behind in ripening than the red ones and yesterday the tree was LOADED. It's not that big of a tree but I got 5.6 pounds of delicious cherries from it. Enough, I think, to make a good gallon of wine.
My dilemma is that this tree is infected with black knot fungus. I pruned most of the affected branches out this year but I'm afraid the main trunk is showing signs of the fungus. This tree probably won't survive more than another year or two.
These golden cherries are more rare than the red ones. I want to try to propagate this tree and plant them far away from the shelter belt where the black knot is everywhere. What is the best way to propagate them? Will cuttings of dormant wood root ok? Any advice would be very much appreciated.
I was out of town all week and was hoping they would not peak before I returned. Wishful thinking as the tree was completely stripped bare when I got out to the farm yesterday. The birds certainly had a feast.
But . . . I have another tree . . .
These are golden or yellow chokecherries. They have the same great flavor with a little less astringency. They were a few days behind in ripening than the red ones and yesterday the tree was LOADED. It's not that big of a tree but I got 5.6 pounds of delicious cherries from it. Enough, I think, to make a good gallon of wine.
My dilemma is that this tree is infected with black knot fungus. I pruned most of the affected branches out this year but I'm afraid the main trunk is showing signs of the fungus. This tree probably won't survive more than another year or two.
These golden cherries are more rare than the red ones. I want to try to propagate this tree and plant them far away from the shelter belt where the black knot is everywhere. What is the best way to propagate them? Will cuttings of dormant wood root ok? Any advice would be very much appreciated.
