The Art of Grafting Fruit Trees & Roses

Grafting

• As defined by the University of Minnesota Extension, "Grafting describes any of a number of techniques in which a section of a stem with leaf buds is inserted into the stock of a tree." While generally used to reproduce an original cultivar, the technique is also used to repair injured trees or for top-working grown trees to different cultivars. Top-working refers to cutting back the top and branches of an established tree and grafting another tree onto it. Materials needed for grafting include knives, grafting wax and tape, elastic bands for budding strips, half-inch nails and a cleft drafting tool. If this tool is unavailable, substitute a wide wedge and heavy knife.

Grafting Fruit Trees

• Fruit trees less than 5 years old are best for top-working. According to the University of Missouri Extension, the majority of fruit tree varieties are interchangeable and thus suitable for grafting. Select a smooth, straight section of a tree branch to provide stock for a scion. Be careful not to tear bark. Drive a small cleft into the stock. For the scion, the University of Missouri Extension recommends cutting it with three buds to insert it with the bottom bud right above the stock. With a wedge or grafting tool, insert the scion into the branch cleft. Once it is tightly inserted, wax the graft cleft, covering all surfaces. Do not prune the graft as it grows during the initial season.

Grafting Roses

• According to rose expert Francois Bousselin, grafted varieties of roses are more uniform in growth and flower sooner than roses propagated from seed. He recommends the T-bud method of rose grafting. In late summer or early autumn, remove the bud from a deflowered stem. Cut smooth and straight. Make sure that the rootstock taking the graft is healthy. Grafting for roses is not dissimilar than that for fruit trees. After placing the bud in the cleft of the rootstock, wrap it with budding wrap. Bousselin suggests leaving the wrap on the graft until the following spring.