I decided to try my hand at grafting. It was a little late in the season, but I think it will still take. 🤞 Ideally you want to graft early spring, before leaves and buds open up.
Why grafting? I have a couple different types of apple trees, a couple different peaches, and a couple different stone frutis. But they are all compatible, apples and apples, all the stone fruits, and all the pears. I LOVE my granny smith apple tree, but my sister gets AMAZING golden delicous apples from her tree. I took a few of her branches and put them on my granny smith, then the granny smith went to the Honey Crips, and that went to the Crunch-a-Bunch. Now, if one tree dies, I still have that kind of fruit on another tree. If my apricot tree dies I can still get apricotes from my nectarine tree.
Grafting is also great for those with limited space. If you only have enough room for one peach, one pear, and one apple, you can graft a variety of fruits onto that tree. Why settle for just golden delicious if you only have one tree, when you can also get granny smith, honey crisp, Johnathan apples, and any others you can find and grab a scion from.
Also, grafting is pretty much free. Most people wont mind you taking a small branch or two, especially if they are pruning already anyway.
This kind of graft is called a wedge graft and it's my favorite because it's so simple.
Here's a step by step guide with pictures if you want to try it yourself.
This kind of graft is called a wedge graft and it's my favorite because it's so simple.
Here's a step by step guide with pictures if you want to try it yourself.
Step #1 Find a good scion. The scion in the branch with traits you want, I picked this one because it has such yummy fruit! You want your scion to be first year growth and about the thickness of a pencil. Now you need to find a good rootstock branch. The root stock is the tree you are grafting your new branch onto. The branch needs to be first year, like your scion, and about the same size. If your root stock is bigger you can work with it.
Step #2 Trim your scion into a wedge. Use a clean, sharp knif to trim off the top and bottom of the scion. 
Step #3 Cut a slit in the root stock. Step #2 and 3 are interchangeable. You need one wedge and one slit. It's easier, in my opinion to have the wedge be the scion, but I did both.
Step #4 put em together! Gently insert the wedge into the slit. Make sure the cambium lines up the best you can. The cambium in the thin green layer right underneath the bark. This is why you want the branches to be about the same. If your root stock is bigger, but a triangel out of the side to slip the wedge into or, you can stick your knif down right behind the bark of your root stock and creat a little pocket there.
Step #5 Tape it up. The final step is to use some sort of plant tape that stretches to keep the two firmly togehter. Grafting tape or garden tape will work great. Now you just wait, and let God and nature do their thing.
Step #2 Trim your scion into a wedge. Use a clean, sharp knif to trim off the top and bottom of the scion. Step #3 Cut a slit in the root stock. Step #2 and 3 are interchangeable. You need one wedge and one slit. It's easier, in my opinion to have the wedge be the scion, but I did both.Step #4 put em together! Gently insert the wedge into the slit. Make sure the cambium lines up the best you can. The cambium in the thin green layer right underneath the bark. This is why you want the branches to be about the same. If your root stock is bigger, but a triangel out of the side to slip the wedge into or, you can stick your knif down right behind the bark of your root stock and creat a little pocket there.Step #5 Tape it up. The final step is to use some sort of plant tape that stretches to keep the two firmly togehter. Grafting tape or garden tape will work great. Now you just wait, and let God and nature do their thing.Happy gardening and good luck!
