I would love to plant some tree stem cuttings, but I am afraid that the cuttings wouldn't make "normal" trees... My experience is that I bought a cherry willow tree seedling online. The plant I received looked like a y. It had a perfect V shape and a very short straight bottom. I suspect that the nursery propagated it by stem cutting. Although I cut the v shape to try to train the only leader become "the leader," it has never become a leader. Supposedly, normal trees don't branch out lateral limbs much at the bottom. My cherry willow does branch out everywhere from the top to the very bottom. I have to cut the branches at the lower part each winter to keep the tree look neat.

Are all most trees that take root from stem cuttings like my cherry willow, growing branches everywhere without establishing the main leaders?

I would like to plant stem cuttings from white oak and tulip trees, for I have found them in my neighborhood. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Search results for "propagate tulip tree"
http://www.google.com/search?q=propagate+tulip+tree&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8& aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

2. Cuttings are an extremely widely used method for propagation, BUT it depends on the plant involved. Some trees can't be grown from cuttings or are much easier propagated by other methods. A quick google search, using the correct scientific name and the word propagation, will usually turn up lots of information on any particular species.

3. "Supposedly, normal trees don't branch out lateral limbs much at the bottom."
Not sure what you mean by that. Most trees have lower branches until they are either pruned away or shaded out. Maybe a picture would shed more light on what you are talking about.

Brandon, here is the image I saw on catalog I WAS attracted to and bought the plant. However, what I have had is nothing like this

What I meant by "Supposedly, normal trees don't branch out lateral limbs much at the bottom" is almost any tree is sort of pushing itself up as it grows. The main leader is not having too many branches at the bottom, as you see this cherry willow/weeping cherry tree in the picture, or any other trees. Mine is branching out everywhere that I have to cut them each season, unlike pine, oak, or maple trees in my yard. I never need to cut pine, oak, or maple tree branches to make them look like a tree. When they grow taller and bigger, the branches grow mainly at the top like a lollipop. The branches of my weeping cherry are spreading widely at the bottom, as well as everywhere else.

Perhaps, only "weeping" varieties of tree are lime this?

Many weeping cherries are made from weeping scions grafted onto standards (in this case the word standard refers to a tall stem). If your cutting is from the weeping part of such a tree, it is not going to look like the parent tree unless it is either grafted onto a standard or trained. It sounds like you may have "half of a tree".

Since the rootstock is alive and growing, it sometimes sends up "suckers," sprouts of the rootstock plant, not the desirable plant grafted onto it. For example, my contorted filbert shrub and my Hamamelis 'Diane' both send up shoots from the rootstock every year that I have to cut or tear off. It's very annoying!

My suspicion is that yours may be sprouting from the rootstock as well as from the stem. As long as it IS growing at the top, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Karin L

Many trees are grafted. Almost all fruit and nut trees, grown to produce a crop, are grafted. Also, many tree cultivars (named cultivated "varieties") are reproduced using grafting. Grafting can be done to add multiple cultivars onto one tree (topworking, etc), but the more common form of grafting is where a scion is attached to the rootstock at just above ground level, usually when both are small.

In the case mentioned above, the standard is used to provide height so that the weeping cherry looks like a tree instead of a shrub or groundcover. A seedling or stooled/layered rootstock is used as the rootstock and trunk, and then the weeping cultivar is grafted onto the top of the trunk at the height desired for best aesthetics.

Like I said earlier, we really need a picture. If a substantial part of the growth is coming from below a graft, then that's one thing, but, from the original description, I had pictured a plant growing more unruly and "branch(ing) out everywhere from the top to the very bottom." If the latter is the case, it sounds likely that the tree was grown from a cutting taken from the scion (weeping part of the tree) and not grafted at all. But,again, it's all guesses at this point.

All the branches coming out from the rootstock like a firecracker bursting out. I am glad I have not cut them, so I can show those crazy branches to you

Thanks

Now you do have a major problem there, and I think my inclination would be to just get rid of the plant and start with a new one. There is no reason why a single plant should be a "lifelong" job for you. Dig it up, discard it. Alternatively, you could dig it up totally, see what is rootstock and what is grafted on, cut what is growing from the rootstock, cut off one trunk, and replant with the best leader heading upwards, and keep it tied straight until it is the height you want. This is the perfect time of year to do that. But honestly, I would say it is not worth it, not for that plant. It's common enough to easily replace if you really want one.

I've bought my suckering shrubs from reputable nurseries; some plants just do that. Suckering is always annoying, and only some plants are worth the hassle. But if the main plant does not even grow upward, no plant is worth the trouble.

Karin L