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Apple or goat willow?

B3B3 Posts: 25,192
edited May 2019 in Plants
I thought  this might be growing out of the  root stock of a long dead  old apple  tree and was happy  to leave it.
Now  I've got  a horrible  suspicion  it's  a goatwillow.  Although  I seem to remember  one  blossom  and an apple  a couple of years  ago..
There's  a viburnum  sucker  nearby  in case  you spot some VT  leaves too.
In London. Keen but lazy.

Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 25,192
    Do i need better pics?
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 83,797
    Hmmm some of that looks quite appley .... other bits not so much ... 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • B3B3 Posts: 25,192
    Illuminating @Dovefromabove. I suspect i need better pics. Will use my camera rather than c**p phone tomorrow😒
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 9,345
    edited May 2019
    Pick a mature leaf with the stem, press it for a bit in a large book then take a pic of both sides. They have similar leaves but there are differences.
    Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people
  • B3B3 Posts: 25,192
    @wild edges i know ive had a small libation but surely there's an easier way? What about the trunk? What concerned me was the pinky fuzziness of the new leaves 
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 83,797
    New apple shoots are frequently fuzzy so ....

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • B3B3 Posts: 25,192
    Right. I'm going to give it another year and I'll ask again next year. Im not too concerned about the apples but a small tree would be nice 
    Our houses were built on an old orchard in the 1930s. Did they use rootstocks pre 1930? It would be great if they didn't. The apples were lovely quite sharp. Great for cooking but ok to eat raw and no disease. Stayed green. Drought and a woodpecker  killed the tree a  good few years ago. Amazing holes.  how do they get in?

    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 83,797
    edited May 2019
    Woodpeckers don’t  kill the trees ...they’re already dying ...  they tap on the trunks to find areas where the inside of the trunk had rotted ... it sounds different when they ‘drum’ on rotten wood. Then they ‘drill’ through the bark and harder outer layer and excavate the soft rotten heart wood. 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 9,345
    B3 said:
    @wild edges i know ive had a small libation but surely there's an easier way? What about the trunk? What concerned me was the pinky fuzziness of the new leaves 
    Leaves are the easiest indicator. Goat willow should have smooth edges or at worst some soft teeth. Apple should have sharp teeth. Not always the case either way though but eventually the apple growth habit will give it away when you get the flowering spurs forming.
    Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people
  • B3B3 Posts: 25,192
    edited May 2019
    Thanks @wild edges😀 I'll have a look at its teeth. Ill do the book press thing too.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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