Conserving old apple trees
May 30, 2023 12:13 PM   Subscribe

We have a couple historic apple trees on our property, have to be at least 100 years old and they are probably not going to survive another 10 years. I would like to preserve and replant some of the same species - is this something I can do with an arborist or seedling center, bring some seeds/apples/etc and pay to have them grown to a state they can be planted in? And is there any particular course of action best taken here?
posted by BlackLeotardFront to Home & Garden (13 answers total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
So, apples don't breed true, meaning whatever seeds you get from your fruit will be some new variety, not what you already have (and they'll probably be gross!). I think your only real option is grafting a small piece of your tree to new root stock, which I think should be possible, but I'm no expert. A little searching should turn up a bunch of articles and videos about the process, and if you have a university cooperative extension or tree nursery in your area, they may have resources or advice for you as well.
posted by that's candlepin at 12:26 PM on May 30, 2023 [7 favorites]


This is done via taking cuttings, and either growing them in soil, or more normally adding the cutting to an existing apple tree, a reliable method is RoyalHortSoc - chip budding.

Yes, a good nursery will be able to do this for you. But this method is quite simple and I've successfully taught a friend how to do it over the phone, with no additional graphics.

Seeds are not how this is done as all apples are clones (except wild ones, like on the roadside, from discarded cores).
posted by unearthed at 12:29 PM on May 30, 2023 [4 favorites]


First thing I'd do is call your local Cooperative Extension office (typically an office or outgrowth of your local land-grant university but perhaps your Dept. of Ag. ) and pick their brains. They may be able to tell you enough for you to take action.

Second, if you don't feel you've learned enough from the Cooperative Extension, I'd call an arborist or two and pick their brains.

Finally, there are a couple of techniques for doing what you want to do: rooting and air layering.
posted by gauche at 12:29 PM on May 30, 2023 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: Thanks, this already seems more doable myself, and I think the trees (despite being quite run down) can probably spare a small branch or two. I'm asking my local extension office for help as well. There's hope for these trees yet!

Leaving the question open for now in case people have any other or more apple-specific advice. This is in NW Washington, in case that matters.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:00 PM on May 30, 2023 [3 favorites]


There are a ton of videos on YouTube for how to graft an apple tree, but as others have said your best bet is going to be to buy an apple seedling (or two), plant them, and then graft twigs from your existing apple trees onto the new apple tree. Grafting is best done in the spring, before blossoming, so at least here in the northeast you've probably missed your window - but it might make the most sense to plant your new trees first and give them some time to establish themselves.

For selecting your tree(s), I'd advise looking into whatever nursery does a lot of heritage apple stuff on the west coast. Here in the northeast it's Fedco. There's also The Lost Apple Project based out of Washington, which I know produces some trees. Basically, when you buy an apple tree you're buying (a) a type of apple you would like (b) grafted onto rootstock that is useful for your purpose. So, for example, we have a bunch of trees on semi-dwarf rootstock because we don't have a lot of yard. Rootstock is also bred to be resistant to specific apple diseases, productive in different ways, etc.

Personally, I would advise that you NOT simply buy rootstock, but buy an actual tree of a type of apple you would enjoy, and then just graft your old tree's twigs onto one or two branches of that tree. My husband really enjoys apples (and, frankly, grafting) so we have a bunch of trees that have 3-4 apple types on them. It's cool, and also it cuts down on the despair level if a graft doesn't take or is being super unproductive, because your tree's still growing and doing something.
posted by posadnitsa at 1:22 PM on May 30, 2023 [6 favorites]


I highly recommend propagating via air layering several
branches, in addition to whatever else you try. It has high odds of success and low impact on the trees. See instructions here or Google that key term for more info.
posted by SaltySalticid at 1:27 PM on May 30, 2023


If you just happen to be on or near the Kitsap Peninsula, the Peninsula Fruit Club (looks like there are other chapters in WA) is a very helpful, and knowledgeable group of folk.
posted by dbmcd at 1:41 PM on May 30, 2023


Everybody is suggesting taking cutting not planting seeds, which is the correct way to go. I'll address the elephant in the room. The reason seeds won't get what you want is because apples are extreme heterozygotes.
posted by falsedmitri at 2:13 PM on May 30, 2023


Is there an apple orchard near you? They likely have expertise, and may have root stock. I taught myself to prune the quince in my old front yard; you can too. The trees may have more life in them.

Luther Burbank is said to have had apple trees with many varieties grafted on; might be a great project.
posted by theora55 at 2:58 PM on May 30, 2023


Tooley’s Trees is a family business who have been doing both this - saving heirloom fruit tree varieties through smart propagation and grafting.

He has a list of resources on his website. Or just call him. He’ll likely know someone in your area, or can give you exce recommendations for rootstalk that will work well in your soil and climate. https://tooleystrees.com/resources
posted by Silvery Fish at 6:15 PM on May 30, 2023


It could be a big job, but have you looked into rehabbing? If the trees mean a lot to you, I bet you could even pay someone to do it.

Might be something to try in addition to propagating new trees.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 7:23 AM on May 31, 2023


Luther Burbank is said to have had apple trees with many varieties grafted on; might be a great project.


I've seen several examples of this on old farms. Pretty cool to have multiple apple varieties on one tree.
posted by Preserver at 5:29 PM on June 1, 2023


Preserver, my father-in-law did this with apples, his peak (that I saw) was a circle - about 20m diameter - of twelve different apple trees each one grafted to its neighbour, and then six different apple cultivars grafted onto each tree, making 7 cvrs per tree, and so 84 cultivars across the circle.
posted by unearthed at 2:08 PM on June 3, 2023 [1 favorite]


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