Ever tried propagating pistache?

mudpiegirl (Zone 7a) Apr 20, 2008

I tried posting this in the SW gardening forum, but I thought I should also try here, among the propagation gurus.

We have, um HAD 3 Chinese pistasche trees--one is about 6 years old, the other 2 were only 2 years old. I just realized today that one of the toddlers was brutally murdered, I believe, by my rampaging mole, who had been making huge numbers of tunnels in that area before (I think, I hope) I finally shooed him off. I believe the roots got aerated and the plant died of exposure and drought over the winter. So here is my plan-- I know you can make new pecan trees and desert willows basically by sticking a branch in dirt (although rooting hormone helps) Has anyone ever tried this with Chinese pistasche? There is a branch on the 6-yr-old I think would be a perfect one, since I really need to prune it anyway, and it is pretty straight.

If you haven't tried it, do you have any general knowledge about rooting trees that might help (or might convince me it would be better just to fork over another 65 bucks to the local nursery and try once again to get a 10 ft tree in an 8 ft car?)

Thanks!