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hotmom81

need help identifying fruit trees and advice on how/what to prune

hotmom81
10 years ago

Hi, this is actually my VERY 1st time ever posting an inquiry on one of these forums so hopefully I will be able to include enough info for all of u to maybe get a little help, but pls be patient with me if i forget something important. It's actually a 2 part question-
OK here goes-
I have been renting a home in Bakersfield, Ca.. for the past 2yrs., and in the backyard there are these 2 fruit trees. They were already there and I assume had been there for at least a year or 2 before that, considering their height, but I may be wrong about that since I'm honestly not too familiar fruit trees, or trees in general, as I am more of an annual/perennials experienced grower. I asked the owner about them, but since they had only acquired the property a year before, they couldn't be sure what they were either, and said for me to wait and see what comes off of it...
HERE'S WHERE I MESSED UP....
I had just had my 3rd child, so honestly a couple trees in the backyard-which i virtually NEVER spent time in over the past 2 yrs and didn't have any grass at all-was the very last thing on my mind. Since there wasn't any grass back there it became VERY easy to overlook watering, especially since it would make a huge muddy mess, SO I pretty much DIDN'T water back there hardly at all...MY BAD.
Recently however, with the baby being a toddler now and wanting to go outside to play, I was able to sweet talk the owner into putting sod down, which was done about 2 weeks ago. Now, I spend A LOT of time back there, watering the new sod, and have become curious again as to what the trees could be. They didn't really bear any fruit, I don't think, or if they did it was minimal, but i honestly cannot remember seeing anything lying around them but a couple of dried up, shriveled, browned to the point of being unrecognizable fruit once or twice in the last 2yrs...I have definitely come to the conclusion that the smaller one is some kind of citrus, unsure as to which variation tho,, and the other is a mystery to me. I have been going thru websites, images, forums, etc.,like these for over a week now comparing my photos and such, but that just made me more confused, especially about the citrus.... as u can tell, it appears to have 3 trunks, with GIANT thorns measuring from 1"-3"(yikes!) long that start about one foot up from the ground and are on every throughout the entire tree up to the top. I read in another thread about rootstock, but if it is, then that would mean I have an ENTIRE tree made of nothing but, and if that's the case then what do i do with it?? get rid of it altogether? If i keep it, is there any way possible to prune it or something down to having just ONE trunk and if so, WHICH ONE do i take it down to? also, regarding the thorns, if I cut off ALL the branches except like 1 or 2, would they grow back or would the tree die? and if they grow back, would they have those same thorns on them when they did? ANY ideas on the unknown citrus, on what to do about it and it's thorns would be great!
regarding the mystery tree-it also has multiple trunks, although most of them seem to connect above ground...are all of those good, or are they "suckers" as well? the leaves, etc., don't vary on different branches and there aren't any thorns or anything, but i could still use some suggestions on pruning and which ones are "suckers"....
I am SO SORRY that this is the LONGEST inquiry EVER and i appreciate everyone's time they spent reading it and look forward to ANY advice, Again-i know EXTREMELY little about trees..
Oh and also, i read in another forum that frequent watering can be detrimental, but I HAVE to water the new sod at least a couple times a day now, and OF COURSE, the trees are right in the middle of the fresh sod,,.So am i just wasting my time attempting to revive these trees if the excessive watering is just going to kill them anyway? or is it possible for me to save the trees AND maintain the sod?
IT apparently only allows me to post one pic on here, so here is a link to more pics of the citrus, and some of the mystery tree as well......PLEASE HELP!
http://s275.photobucket.com/user/cheriesboy/library/My%20Unknown%20Fruit%20Trees?sort=3&page=1

Comments (7)

  • emmarene9
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Link did not work for me

  • hotmom81
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Here try the new link..sorry again. Or if u prefer, go to photobucket/cheriesboy and then go to My unknown fruit trees . Thank you so much for attempting to help me out.

    Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:549128}}

  • hotmom81
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Here try the new link..sorry again. Or if u prefer, go to photobucket/cheriesboy and then go to My unknown fruit trees . Thank you so much for attempting to help me out.

    Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:549128}}

  • calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It looks like someone was trying to get rid of a lemon tree and gut it to the ground. The rootstock is now growing and will produce nothing good. I would not expect anything, even with TLC. Al

  • peachymomo
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I agree with Al, both pictures look like trees that were cut down and grew back from the rootstock, if you want fruit you will need to plant new trees. Bakersfield is a great place for growing fruit, my Grandma lived there and some of my fondest childhood memories are of eating the apricots, plums, pomegranates and persimmons off of her trees. Maybe you can convince your landlord to spring for some new fruit trees.

  • hotmom81
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am not surprised about the citrus being all rootstock. It wad indicative to what i had seen in various photos while researching. Now, i was reading up on rootstock, and came across some info on grafting. With it being all rootstock, would grafting be a possibility i can consider with that one, if i cut most of it down and got some budded branches from a different, healthy tree? As far as getting thr owners get new trees, i cant even get them to let me just remove them,, so anything i do at this point is out of my pocket, so I'm trying to be economical. If grafting is possible, i would like to at least try before replacibg it entirely. As for the other tree, the other day, i noticed these green fruits growing in little bunches of 3 up near tge top that lpok like apples, maybe?? So could they be apples? And if it's growing fruit, then is the tree ok?

  • peachymomo
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You could certainly graft new scion wood onto the rootstock, I recommend you ask for more advice on the Fruit forum because there are some real pros over there. I think many apples are grafted onto crabapple roots, so until you taste the fruit and judge it to be good there is no way of knowing if the fruits that are growing are worth eating. If you decide to learn to graft new varieties onto your existing trees you can make something very unique and cool by grafting several varieties onto one tree. I think most grafting is done in spring, so you have plenty of time to do some research before you get started.

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