Hi Does anyone know if Mazzard cherry tree have invasive root system ? Does it have spreading roots above ground ? Is it safe to be planted next to a driveway? I uploaded an image of an example. Thanks
Are you asking if this tree's rootstock is mazzard cherry? Mazzard cherry roots definitely behave like this. @Ron B made a comment about them at (sweet cherry, Prunus avium) at https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc....le-pink-flowers-mid-season.61183/#post-247844, and further down in posting #11. Here is a thread with a similar discussion: https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/please-identify-cherry-tree.85524/ Ron B made a similar comment in that thread.
@MomijiCanuck, I knew I was going to come across a good example, for you, and I didn't have to go far. This is a street tree a block from me, 'Akebono' cherry grafted onto mazzard rootstock. I don't know the age of the tree, maybe more than 50 years? I've been here 40 years, but I wasn't paying attention back then. I would guess that the sidewalk has been repaired.
Thanks for the photo and reply. The trunk and root lifting is quite extensive. I will have to change my plans for planning a cherry tree.
On the other hand, here is 'Kiku-zakura', which I was told a few years ago was 50 years old. These are not large trees; the branching structure is very nifty in the winter; they have awesome flowers and a lot of them. I was told they are being propagated here on their own roots. @Douglas Justice , can you say something about whether these will be available for the public to buy, and if so, where and when? This individual is on the VCBF Neighbourhood Maps - you can do a Search to see where this individual is in the West End, and the nearest intersection is in the photo names. Do not confuse this with 'Kiku-shidare-zakura', a small weeping tree with double pink flowers, which is often available but under no circumstances should you buy.
It's a rather delicate tree that seems to almost always be grafted on mazzard cherry, so is a particularly extreme mismatch of scion to rootstock. In very little time, it becomes engulfed in mazzard suckers. I think its usual life span is five years. I remember seeing one nice one several years ago, ok two nice ones. "The nicest one I've seen" was not a youngster, but it was all mazzard branches by the time it was removed for a new house on the lot. Now that I'm going through postings, I see a few nice ones. In the posting at https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc....e-zakura-or-something-else.85690/#post-336974, @Douglas Justice opined that we're giving that name a bad rap, and maybe the pathetic-looking ones are really 'Cheal's Weeping'. We did not ever follow up with the suggested investigation. I'll make my case for what what you could acquire with one of those names with this one that was posted in the Kensington-Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood Blog. . All of this is off-topic, was just to say, be careful to look for 'Kiku-zakura' (without the weeping part of the name). Several of the cherry scouts are big fans.
Ah, thank you for reply wcutler. I see what you mean now. Agree, that Kiku-Shidare-Zakura tree you posted doesn't look very good with Mazzard root. Do you find the other type Kiku-Zakura are more readily available in their own root ? I am going to also try to grow some cuttings of a cherry tree and plant it on its own root if possible, though it may take a long time haha.
I'd love to say that we have 'Kiku-zakura' in production (i.e., own-root production at UBC Botanical Garden), but ours died before we could start stooling it. I'll have to start again with cuttings in July, and hope we can get some to root. I'm afraid it'll be a bit of a wait. I recall trying to get material from 'Kiku-shidare-zakura' several years in a row, but could never get cuttings that were not already disfigured with disease. Regarding weeping cherry trees in production, we have 'Shidare-yoshino', 'Sendai-shidare', 'Snowdrop' and 'Beni-shidare' (i.e., no double-flowering cultivars) A few notes on ornamental cherry propagation, elements of which are probably repeated elsewhere in the forums: In Vancouver, grafted cherries are either top grafted (as in the image of 'Kiku-shidare-zakura' above) or bud-grafted low on a stem; the bud is allowed to grow and the rootstock cut back, allowing the bud to take over; no graft union is usually visible and branching is not usually congested with a budded tree. Grafting on European sweet cherry rootstock (the industry norm) is problematic, as the rootstock is exceptionally vigorous and tends to sucker in shallow, compacted or waterlogged soil. It also often grows at a different rate and with different timing compared with the scion (the ornamental cherry part), which frequently leads to graft incompatibility. Most ornamental cherries can be started from stem cuttings (though not all cultivars establish readily) and grown on their own roots. In rare cases, ornamental cherries are started from micropropagated stock. Stooling is a method of propagating larger stems, by first cutting back an established tree to near the ground in the dormant season; sawdust or other material is mounded up over the stump so that when suckers grow out from the stump, they root into the sawdust and can be cut away from the mother plant and potted up or planted out. UBC Botanical Garden has been growing own-root cherries for several years. Those displayed inside the fence at the main entrance are on their own roots; for comparison, examine the row of top-grafted 'Tai-haku' outside the fence (don't trip on the rootstock suckers). Stooled ornamental cherries are sold in the UBC Botanical Garden Plant Centre when they become available.
@MomijiCanuck, I know you don't need more convincing, but this is such a useful thread for collecting these photos, so I'm adding a few photos where you can see the sidewalk damage. I don't think I mentioned sucker growth from the rootstock, though I have seen that recently with cherries on their own roots too. The youngster here looks like a mazzard shoot.
I forgot, I just saw this today - there were two or three trees with a similar thing going on over the sidewalk.
Wow! Even suckers grown too! Thanks for the photo. With the current Japanese cherry blossoms, I noticed pictures of cherry trees in Japan and their trunks do not look like ones in Canada (non-invasive) I am not sure why.
If they are grafted, they do the grafting at ground level, or read Douglas Justice's posting again. What he mentions in his third and fourth points will produce trees that look like trees. You can find some here. See the thread at (2) Appreciation: - Cherries that look like real trees | UBC Botanical Garden Forums Part of the excuse for the top-grafted street trees is to get the trees to branch above the level where they will be car and truck pruned, and so people can walk on the sidewalk next to them. But I think there are ways to do that well, or on a low-grafted tree or one on its own roots, you can remove trunk growth below the level you want. But you can get a marketable tree on a tall trunk faster by grafting it onto mazzard. But even some cherries grown on their own roots will send up root suckers. See my last row of photos on the quite old 'Washi-no-o' trees in Queen's Park in New Westminster, at https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/new-westminster.50594/page-6#post-447425 And here is a group of three 'Accolade' I photographed in North Delta that has some Accolade root suckers: https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/surrey-and-north-delta.61844/page-10#post-441717 I would guess that if you don't want the suckers to grow, you can cut them off as soon as you see them. That works to keep the mazzard rootstock from on the trunk taking over the whole tree. Did I link to this thread? https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/magical-two-tone-trees.102176/
My neighbours root stock is 40 feet from original site and now it’s in my yard from cherry ornamental grafts cut down 20 yrs ago careful of your underground utilities when you install “root barriers”
That is wild @Georgia Strait. I see many people plant ornamental cherry trees on their front yard. If the tree is 20ft away from house, is it safe from their roots ? Thanks
