Hi - I’m a botanist for the USFS and have a favo(u)rite wild Crategus sp. tree in a forest opening - medium sized, nice round crown from a 4’ trunk, beautiful leaves, thorns, etc. I’m thinking of maybe trying to propagate it - either in my yard or maybe somewhere wild just to see.
I’ve tried to search the web (and books) for what rootstock might be used for grafting, if any, but can only find info on using Crategus stock to graft Malus, etc.
Any ideas?
There are some other Crategus around it, but can’t remember/didn’t look to see if there were any small ones of a good size for transplantation, etc.
I’ve also never tried grafting … by the way (in fact after a lifetime of moving around for work it’s only the last 2 years that I’ve finally got a house so going full speed on gardening - which includes planting the ton of fruit, berries, etc. on order this spring, for which this forum has been useful reference!)
I would 1st try grafting onto one of it’s seedlings.
I have no experience with hawthorn but the nursery I work at has a former propagator who grafted several different hawthorn species onto an existing large hawthorn we had on site. He did not have rootstock at the time and wanted to start them for wood for future hawthorn crops.
In desperation he used a whip and tong graft to put a branch of each species collected onto this old hawthorn. Every graft took! The tree today is neat to see as the leaves of each branch are all a little different being different hawthorn species. Each branch fall colors at a different time too.
If you need more info I can ask him as we are going to a trade show together this week. But I know whip and tongue grafts will work for hawthorn.
rowan (sorbus aucuparia) can also be used as a rootstock.
Obviously, another Crataegus species would be best.
I have several mayhaws (C.aestivalis, C.opaca) grafted onto native cockspur hawthorn (C.crus-galli) that I transplanted out of our cow pasture.
I have one pear in the orchard on cockspur understock, now in place for 22 years; the pear is larger than the hawthorn understock, but it’s standing on its own without staking or trelllising.
In the past, some tree-form Amelanchier selections were grafted onto hawthorn rootstock… suckering was an issue.
So… in my minimal experience, preference for rootstock species is: Hawthorn>Pear>Serviceberry.
Hawthorn wood is quite dense; bark is very thin, and does not ‘slip’ well, like apple, pear, etc., so I ended up doing simple cleft grafts of mayhaw and pear on the hawthorn rootstocks.
Hope this helps…
Thanks already so many replies!
I guess I haven’t seen Crategus rootstock for sale (in my admittedly small and incipient fruit buying - Fedco, St. Lawrence, etc.). Is there a recommended mail-order place in the US where I could buy a few (~<5)? I’ve seen Malus, etc.rootstock but no Crategus. I’m pretty far away from the cities in the UP of MI so mail (or digging from wild) is best options.
In fact maybe I’d better start reading about wild digging now since a local rootstock related to the actual tree would be ideal, eh? - what’s a good reference for that (or basic ‘rules’ - timing, size, procedure, etc.
I’m guessing that since the native Crategus here is so variable & hybridizes freely (most exact spp. hard to ID here wild for that reason & even the best ID manuals sort of waffle on the topic) that grafting from the ‘supermodel’ tree would be best bet (there are a few others near ‘The One’, but not as perfect!).
ive got lots of mountain ash seedlings coming up in the back yard if you want a few to graft to contact me in may and ill dig some for you. i have 6 pears grafted on mountain ash that are growing well.
Washington hawthorn and Winter King hawthorns are pretty common in the ornamental nursery trade.
The cockspur hawthorn seedlings that I dug out of the pasture were mostly 1/2 to 3/4 inch caliper.
Around here, volunteer callery pear seedlings are everywhere… I’d be inclined to try fostering some scions of your ‘superstar’ onto them while I was locating some hawthorn rootstock candidates.
I’m in the EU, so might have other hawthorn species than you.
If grafted (dormant season grafting before bud brake) medlars on hawthorn. Grafts had good takes. Doesn’t seem like a tough species to graft.
I think hawthorn is compatible with hawthorn, but likely also cydonia (quince)
I think quince rootstocks might be hard to find in the US. In the EU it’s a regularly used rootstock for pears.
you could also dig up some roots of the wild hawthorn and see if the thicker pieces make a shoot. You could also graft the root onto a piece of hawthorn from the tree aboveground (root grafting)
Wow, this is an active, intelligent, international forum!
(I just signed up the other day … ‘long time listener first time caller’ as they used to say on the radio talk shows when they were tolerable)
I only wish I had more space than my 1000m2 village lot to garden on – but plans to fill that out are progressing well 2 years in; goal is no wasted space and no ‘lawn’ (= ‘drug-addicted carpet’)!
Have been working my way through the ‘Why are American Backyard Orchards So Ugly?’ thread…
welcome to the lawn haters league. 
If you can dig some roots and differentiate them from the other trees nearby it might be possible to start a clone from a root cutting
Or……
Do a root graft !
Use a piece of root from mother tree as rootstock, grafting a twig
( scion ) from the top.
Simple, compatible, free !
I agree root grafting could be the best and easiest approach, guaranteed compatibility - if it’s in a place where you’re allowed to dig around the tree and get some small roots.
Hawthorne are slow to start from seed needing a couple of cold cycles, generally the all germinate after the second winter so at least for me it’s been much harder to grow them than apple.
Great idea! I am doing some Illinois mulberry’s this way. Will be my first attempt but I think it’s should work.
Dennis
Kent, wa
Thanks for all those replies by the way… root grafting sounds like the easiest/best then; no problem digging around the ‘beauty tree’. Perhaps I’ll try a little bit of clandestine/extracurricular cloning of this tree here & there in the Forest (especially as my village lot is getting pretty filled out… )
I can look it up, but anyone feel free to tell the best time of the year for that!