Herbert,
I have many pear grafts onto wild hawthorn. Some are 3 years old and look well. I have tried only Bosc but think many others may take. I will be trying a bunch of european and asian on them this year. I will also graft lower since they like to sucker below the graft and I have to wipe them off several times a summer. Growth can be vigorus. I hope to have fruit in a few years.
On the old apple trees I have been topworking for several years and may have fruit this summer. Typically in bygone years topworking was done by stag horning the old/wild tree close to the main trunk. You will get suckers but as the new top grows you will have shade to minimize that. Utilizing the old and huge root system is a smart idea for a small orchard owner. A good spray program will minimize insect and disease problems. I also have many wild amalancheir and Mtn Ash which are supposed to take pear and/or apple grafts. I would like to hear of any attemps at those. They certainly would make a hardy rootstock! There are at least several other fruit growers who have been doing this for quite some time.
Jerry

I've not tried topworking older hawthorns, but I have dug & transplanted some small cockspur hawthorns out of my pastures, and have used them as understocks for pear, quince, mayhaw, and juneberry.
C.crus-galli is a dwarfing rootstock for pear, and the pear outgrows the hawthorn understock to an extent that they need to be staked or otherwise supported to prevent graft union failure. Quince overgrows hawthorn, but to a lesser degree than pear.

Jerry,
I had a friend in MN who years ago was trialing Amelanchier as a hardy understock for apple - but I don't know what his results were.

Earlier this year I grafted 6 varieties of medlar onto two different hawthorne rootstocks: C. crus-galli and C. monogyna. Both took the grafts readily and are growing quite vigorously.

John

Hi,

Does anyone know the answer to these questions?

I would like to, if possible, make two very unusual fruit-cocktail trees of fruiting trees in the Rose family.

I'd like to mix:

One Tree (Crataegus-Malus-Sorbus-Amelanchier-Mespilus-Pyrus Tree)
Hawthorn (if the root-stock, C. crus-galli)
Juneberry (if the root-stock, A. canadensis)
Medlar
Asian Pear
Crab-Apple (one of the natives)
American Mountain-Ash (Sorbus americana)

If so, which one of these should be the root-stock?

A second Tree (Native Plum Multi-Graft):
American Plum
Chickasaw Plum
Beach Plum
Dunbar's Plum (P. americana x P. maritima)
Wild Goose Plum
Canadian Wild Plum

Can this be done (either of these two)?

Also, I'd like to know if you think that if I planted to paw paw trees of contrasting cultivars a mere 8" away apart from eachother, if in time, the trunks of both would expand until they inosculated to form one tree sporting limbs of each cultivar on opposite ends. I only have space to allow a single paw paw (18') to develop into a full, unpruned tree of maximum size-potential. Or maybe I can plant them 2' apart and still get a natural, dual multi-trunk specimen?

Thanks,
Steve

njbiology/Steve: I would keep the pome fruits together and the plums together. Long term compatibility is an issue. Some euro pears can go well on quince and others not. Most of the others are fine except watch out for that Asian pear. Different enough to cause some problems.

Has anyone specifically grafted Euro pear onto Washington hawthorn?
Thansk
John S
PDX OR

Does anyone know if it would be possible to use C. uniflora as a dwarfing rootstock for larger fruiting hawthorn trees? I was hoping to test graft branches from seedlings of azarole, mayhaw, C. tanecetifolia, etc. onto C. uniflora to test quality of fruit and to keep the space requirements down.