Hi All,

I have a 'Gino's Black' that I grew from cutting in the ground in my propagation area last year.  It rooted fine, but grew very little.  Despite being covered, just about all of the top froze back.  I say "just about" because there is one node right at the soil line that survived. 

Neither of the cuttings I had rooted last year were showing signs of life.  I had thought it was done for until a couple of weeks ago when I noted a bud swelling on the one node.  I cut the death off the top of the tree but left about half an inch above the node (it was that close to the soil line).  Later that day, a visiting friend sent her two year old son into the field to "help" me.  Before I noticed him being out there, he ran through the propagation area and caught the top the tree with his shoe.  When I went to examine, the tree snapped just below one good node. I assumed it was done for and hoped the other cutting I rooted would come back from the roots. 

Today I noticed there are two shoots (still very small) growing from the node above the soil line.  Apparently, enough of the plumbing has remained in connected to support growth.  The problem is it is not much. The broken piece is very loose.  Loose enough so it will not tolerate the shoots getting much larger without breaking (especially with any kind of wind).

So now I am in search of a solution.  I was thinking I could surround the tree with a planter and fill it with a perlite/pine bark mixture and let the new growth root into the medium.  I am worried if I do this, the tree wouldn't have enough energy to grow through the planter without access to sunlight.  Also I am worried the weight of the mix would be enough to sever the node from the roots.  Alternatively, I could put the planter around the tree and just fill with the mixture to the top of the shoots.  Then, add more growing medium as they grow taller.

I am open to any suggestions as to how to correct this problem.  The other cutting tree still has not shown signs of life.

Thanks,
~james

Stake the tree (what's left of it), and let it grow, and then you can airlayer the top off of it. You could also start mounding soil around the shoot as it grows, and let it root that way.

Just protect if from further injury.

There is nothing to attach a splint or stake to.  The top most node is just above ground level.  The shoots are less than an inch tall. I was/am surprised it is still growing.  It is not holding on my much.  I would need to excavate part of the tree to have anything to stabilize against.

I have some Superroot Airpots that are about 6" tall and 4" wide.  I thought I could put one without the bottom around it, stake it into the ground, and start filling with Perlite (or Perlite/pine bark mix).  The Perlite is light so it won't cause damage the tree further if it falls on it.  It can be funneled into the container around the tree and add stability to the shoots as they grow.

~james

Can you post a photo?

I would just wrap the node back together using rubber band it will deteriorate over time then mound up soil around and just over the node and leave it alone there should be enough energy in the root mass to push a new shoot. Mount up compost will feed it and protect it it will send new roots and then the damaged area will be top of the root ball.
Every time you pot it up plant it deeper and it will eventually not even matter where the damaged section is...  If in ground just plant it deeper or mound up the dirt higher in consecutive years....

I'm sorry to be so long in getting back to this.  I lost the charger for my camera and had to wait for the replacement from Amazon.  Also, we had 6" of rain late Monday night into early Tuesday morning.  Most all of my trees are covered in mulch debris.  Some of the lower leaves on other trees are buried under mulch.

Here is a picture of the small tree and a close up of the damage. 

Seems like at least some of the cambium is intact.  Maybe you could do an impromptu psuedo-airlayer using a 16 or 32 ounce cup or something similar.  Cut the bottom out so you basically just have a plastic sleeve.  Slip that over, then mound up dirt or potting mix in there and keep moist, with just a leaf or two and the top of the shoot sticking out the top.  You should get roots eventually.  Once you see good roots you can cut the thing off at the spot where it originally snapped.  Who knows, after you cut it, maybe another shoot would sprout up from below the soil line?

I would hill up the soil around the base and only have the green tips sticking out of the soil allow the new wood to set roots. then next year dig up the tree and set it deeper in the ground now you have new and old roots supporting the tree.

I think put a stake in the ground and tie it to it. Putting just enough pressure to slightly close up the crack( make sure there's no dirt in the crack before you do this) and then seal the crack. After all that cover it with dirt. Make sure the stake is tall enough to support the tree as it grows. By the end of the season you'll have a solid 5' tree.

luke