Question
We have a very old apple tree and also an old flowering cherry tree, both trees still produce fruit. Both trees seem to be dying of old age. Is it possible to take cuttings from both of these trees and get them to grow? If so, how?

Answer
Hi Mike,
Thanx for your question.  Many fruit trees have suckers or shoots coming up about them.  You can dig these up and sever them from the mother plant and plant them separately.  You can take branches that are close to the ground, expose a patch of dirt, lay part of the branch (still attached to the tree) on the ground (stripped of leaves and scraped so that some of the inner skin is exposed.  Place a rock on top and  by next season, you will have a new plant.  Cut it from the original tree, dig it up and plant it elsewhere.  The most difficult method is to take softwood cuttings, (green stems) eight inches long and strip of all but the last two or three leaves.  No flowers or fruit attached.  Make the cutting where the cutting is attached to the main limb.  Dip the cutting in Roottone or some other plant hormone and stick it 1-2 inches into some warm wet soil or soil less mix.  Keep the soil warm (70-75 degrees) and mist the cutting twice a day.  Rooting usually begins in 8 weeks or so but could take longer.  You can probe around the cutting gently with a pencil to see how much root growth there is.  I hope this helps.
Tom