I have a couple of apple trees that were basically drowned last year during all the flooding. I lost a total of over a dozen trees. We got over 20" of rain in less than a week followed by a drought. The two apple trees died back but this spring are sprouting about a foot above the graft. I cut the trunk off above the sprouts for now since it was completely dead. Would it be better to just replace the trees or let them come back from the sprouts? The trunks were about 2" in diameter so they should have a good root system.
If you have a good rootstock (i.e., one that is compatible with your needs, climate, and so on) it makes sense to grow it out. With the established rootstock it should take off and do great.
I had to do that with about 3-4 peach trees I’ve received. I say as long as it’s above the graft you’re golden. Replacing the trees will really set you back and the root system won’t be as developed as an established tree.
I had a mail order tree last year that was toast but it sent a few shoots up from above the graft…i just let those grow out. It will put the tree back a little…but should do fine in the long run. I had another that sent shoots out from the rootstock, but the scion was completely dead so i got a replacement for that.
As several others mentioned the trees should grow back pretty fast. My only concern is when you have your next similar rain condition will you have another kill back. If any of the trees did not come back with sprouts I would suggest at least planting the new trees on a mound to move the upper root out of the wet conditions. I had to do this with an apple and a blueberry. Bill
Bill raises an excellent point.
I agree it would be better to plant them on a mound but it was very uncommon to get that much rain all at once. Normally I have more problems with it being too dry. We had some much rain all at once it wouldn’t of mattered how high they were planted. You could walk across the yard and it was like walking across a swamp. The ground was spongy for a long time afterwards. This year all my trees are doing great. I even have a couple I thought were completely dead come back from the rootstock so I have left them in place and will try to graft them next year. The water rose so fast last year it broke the dams on two of my ponds and washed them out. There were places a few miles from me that stayed underwater for a couple months due to the amount of water.