Hi, I have a cherry blossom tree, planted 4 years ago, it has another tree coming up from the same root system. How can I safely remove that and replant it somewhere else?

 

There are many cherry trees:

KWANZAN CHERRY
(Prunus serrulata 'Kwanzan')
AKEBONO CHERRY
(Prunus x yedoensis "Akebono")
WEEPING JAPANESE CHERRY
(Prunus subhirtella var. pendula)
TAKESIMENSIS CHERRY
(Prunus takesimensis)
USUZUMI CHERRY
(Prunus spachiana f. ascendens)
AUTUMN FLOWERING CHERRY
(Prunus subhirtella var. autumnalis)
SARGENT CHERRY
(Prunus sargentii)
FUGENZO CHERRY
(Prunus serrulata 'Fugenzo')
SHIROFUGEN CHERRY
(Prunus serrulata "Shirofugen")
"OKAME" (Prunus x "Okame")

If this is not a grafted tree, then the sucker that is developing could be removed and prove true. You would have to be sure to take some of the root ball with it, so that it has intact roots and some amount of the original soil.

The greatest degree of success may come from trenching this sucker. That is, cut it away from the main tree without disturbing the subordinate root system. Dig a narrow trench to separate the two. Fill the trench with peat moss, compost, rotted leaves, or such. Next year the two will have developed feeder roots in this trench. Now you can excavate the sucker with its root ball intact, and transplant it. The original tree will have have time to recover from the injury and should be unaffected by the removal of what is now a separate tree.

Hope this helps.

 

The grafted tree, I do not know what that means, thank you for your help.

 

A grafted plant is made this way.

A rootstock plant is chosen for its durability, flexibility, resistance to nematodes, or whatever characteristic it needs. Onto this plant above the base of the plant, the target plant is grafted. Usually one that produces good fruit, showy flowers, grows to a desired height, and so on. When you buy this plant, you buy it for its fruit, flowers, height, or whatever. If everything goes according to plan, you enjoy the plant for what it is supposed to be.

If a sucker sprouts from the roots, it will be the rootstock plant, not the plant you are currently seeing. In the same way, if you cut the plant back too far, you will get the rootstock plant in the new growth. This is seen from time to time in roses, when an owner becomes too enthusiastic about pruning old canes.

In this way, you could have a fruit tree of the sort that ordinarily does poorly in salty soil grafted onto a rootstock that does well in salty soil. The plant, overall, will do well.

This explanation may not be very involved or complete, so if it misses its mark let me know.

Hope this helps.

Commonly grafted plants are many fruit trees and roses.

 

Chris, thank you so much for your expertise. It was given to me as a gift, don't know exactly what breed it is. Will study what you wrote, so I better understand. Did you see the picture of it with the link I provided? John.

 

Yes, I saw the photograph. Thanks.