Steven:

Yes do some T budding. It's a form of grafting. The critical element is that the rootstock needs to be growing vigorously so that the bark is slipping. You make a T incision in the rootstock bark and slip a bud from your cherry tree under the bark. Wrap with a rubber band and in two weeks cut off the rootstock above the newly healed in bud. The rootstock needs to be about 1/4 to 1/2 inch caliper and the budwood smaller than that.

Thank you, fruitnut! That's a good explanation, and I will look up T budding on the web to find some photos as well. Sounds like just what I need. Thanks again!

Steven.

Steven, are you sure the other wild cherry trees you have are graft compatible? Trees have to be very closely related to be graft compatible. Not all cherry species are graft compatible. My second hand understanding, for example is that the regular wild cherries around here (P. serotina) -- I'm also in NC -- aren't graft compatible with sour or sweet cherries or any other cultivated types of cherries.

Hi, cousinfloyd.

Thanks for letting me know that. No, I'm not completely sure that these cherry trees are compatible, but it's the best shot I've got! I went ahead and did some grafts Friday night: one T-bud graft and two chip-bud graft. As of today, the T-bud and one of the chip-buds still look great. The other chip-bud is a little wilted, but all-in-all, I'm pleased so far. I plan to try some more within the next few weeks. But just to be on the safe side, I planted a few of those cherries in a cup sometime last week, and one of them has already sprouted! So even if the grafts don't work, I have hope for the future (distant, distant, future!)

Thank you again!
Steven.

The cherries that sprouted might not be 'true' to the hybrid form they were taken from.

Root stock with cherry and other deciduous fruit trees is more for dwarfing the tree from 'wild heights' for commercial and home harvesting. A disease prone cultivar will still be disease prone but the root stock won't be affected and often will throw up new root stock branches if not trimmed back.

Great, AgroCoders! Sounds like something to look out for. If the cherries are not true to the original, it's ok. I like the cherries off of both trees, so a mix would be ok. And actually, another reason I'm doing this (besides the donor tree being a target for destruction) is that the donor tree has all it's limbs way up high. Ladders make me nervous, so dwarfing it is a great thing.

Thanks again.
Steven.

I've got some type of cherry I think come up in beside my drive way but I don't know if it's where birds have drop a pit as there is a wild black cherry in the back yard or if someone spit out a pits long ago from cherries from the grocer. They are just 2' sapling now.

I do have a peach nearby from a pit someone tossed to and it's 7' but not bearing size yet.

I just moved here a couple of months ago and the yard is full of 'wild food'.