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Fruit trees
Barry Akins
Posts: 2
I have a cherry tree and apple tree in my garden very neglected .the top of the trees look like they have died off but lots of growth from the base .are they no good ? Should I dig out? or can they be saved ?
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Posts
Barry, most fruit trees are grafted onto different rootstocks so see if you can find the graft points. If the only growth is from below that point it means the grafts have failed and you would be well advised to replace the trees as the growth from the rootstocks won't produce decent fruit. The graft union will look a bit "knobbly" like this image I grabbed from google:
If there is some growth above the union you will be OK but must remove all growth from below it or the (usually wild tree) rootstock will take over and the fruiting tree which has been grafted on to it will die.