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Lets do some deductive reasoning here. Is the tree sold in your climate zone as a yard tree? If so it is most likely a member of the Prunus family. If it is a tropical species you are on your own.

If it is Prunus then a trunk chop would be possible for the most part. But error on the side of caution is advisable. I would chop down to a point way above where I would like to chop the first year and see what it does. After assessing the response you should get some sort of idea as to how the tree is going to respond.

However; if you plan on cutting below the graft you will lose the tree you are paying for and be stuck with the stock tree which could be anything in the family hardy enough and cheap enough to use as stock for grafting purposes. Keeping that in mind you must decide how far down you want to cut. Also, it is often the case that cutting the scion (the good side of the graft) will stimulate a good deal of sucker growth from the stock plant (the bad side of the graft). This will take over and starve out the scion if it is not aggressively controlled.

26-Mar-2005	#5
Vance Wood bonsaiTALK ArchMaster Join Date: Sep-2002 Location: Roseville Michigan Country: USA USDA Zone: 5/6 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 2,435	Lets do some deductive reasoning here. Is the tree sold in your climate zone as a yard tree? If so it is most likely a member of the Prunus family. If it is a tropical species you are on your own. If it is Prunus then a trunk chop would be possible for the most part. But error on the side of caution is advisable. I would chop down to a point way above where I would like to chop the first year and see what it does. After assessing the response you should get some sort of idea as to how the tree is going to respond. However; if you plan on cutting below the graft you will lose the tree you are paying for and be stuck with the stock tree which could be anything in the family hardy enough and cheap enough to use as stock for grafting purposes. Keeping that in mind you must decide how far down you want to cut. Also, it is often the case that cutting the scion (the good side of the graft) will stimulate a good deal of sucker growth from the stock plant (the bad side of the graft). This will take over and starve out the scion if it is not aggressively controlled.