I've also read that Winter Banana can be used as a rootstock for asian pears.

…still having problems with those deer..? If so, I’d just trim it up around the break. Chainsaw’s work… and don’t bother painting or coating it with anything, the ‘latest research’ has shown that’s unnecessary. Just figure it will likely begin sending up shoots from around the break, of which (after being tied over) will become your new limbs.

That would leave you ‘miles’ of area for (“inverted L”) bark grafting – one of, if not thee easiest grafts of all. All you’d need is sound dormant scions - and enough patients to wait for the bark to fully slip.

If you’d like the tree closer to earth, a slight slanting cut would be good for shedding rain; but the more the ‘slant’ the more woody surface area you'd expose to rot.

I dig nostalgia! If you liked the apples -- you may just owe that old tree some kids. That’s an excellent Idea of gathering scions from the ‘obviously old’ neighborhood trees and starting a new orchard of them, I’ve never heard of that. And, European prunes are pretty easy to attach to rootstock, too. And considering that poor growing / producing seedling … sounds like a new hole to me

Obviously, you can always park stuff on those crabs and seedlings… but you could also plant some nice stand-alone original trees…

Here’s a Winter Banana photo for anyone not having seen them… though hardly my favorite apple, if Shaun would have one, so would I… Just look and feel for their seam, or ‘parting line.’

OK, I got the three sets of scions from my yard in the refrigerator, and today collected scions from 3 old trees in the neighborhood that will likely be inaccessible soon.

How important is it that the scions be 12" long? The ones I cut in my yard a week ago are about 9". I was trying to make them fit in a 1-gallon ziplok.

Also I read somewhere about dipping the ends in melted wax, which I had done with those from my yard. Bad idea? If so I'll just cut some new ones.

Thanks,

Dave

9" should be fine. If you have space, it's better to have them longer because they stay fresh better that way. For each graft, you are only going to use 3-4 inches anyway, but you get your pick of the best 3-4 inches that way, and if the end has died/dried, you can cut it off and only use the usable stuff. You can also make more than one graft if you want.
John S
PDX OR

I concur with John, 9 inches is fine … but the more the merrier!

Congratulations on acquiring the additional wood! Explaining your intentions to someone unfamiliar with a Scion can be daunting, I’ve tried. …but I’ve also got the ‘fruits of my’ efforts on trees throughout my yard.

Once had a brother 40 feet up a (to this day) unique and unidentified apple tree perched over a busy street in Milwaukie (OR) obtaining scions because it was/is our Dad’s favorite apple. Another guy finally gave up listening to my explanation and just watched as I pulled out a ladder and took wood from the most productive Transparent apple I’d ever seen… What a magnificent feeling to ‘have’ the identical tree! Sorry, but I’m pumped

I once coated the ends of my scions with grafting seal … but have seen no difference in not… Grafting at our show, the first thing I’ll do is ‘snip’ off the corner edge of a scion, looking for ‘instant green.’ It’s rarely further than an 1/8 inch from the cut end, painted or not. Yours should be fine.

I just ran across this old thread. Just thought I'd give an update that the tree did not recover. I am leaving the trunk for the insects & birds. If it was a bit bigger I might even get some swifts to use it!

I cut the top into several pieces and added them to a brush pile habitat at a nearby wildlife refuge. I'm sure the hollow trunk will make a nice home for some little creature.