A Short Guide to Dwarfing Rootstocks

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Orchard ists interested in grafting an antique apple scion onto a dwarfing rootstock might want to read the article on page 130 of MOTHER NO. 63. And we think you'll find the treeplanting center spread in issue 65 to be a valuable guide. See page 104 to order back issues.

Have a Bud

The summer months—from mid-July through August—are the best times to expand your apple orchard, using a technique known as bud grafting (or budding). You'll need a rootstock (see the preceding guide), or an apple branch of about pencil thickness, on which to make the bud graft . . . and scions, or budsticks (that is, young branches of the desired variety, cut from this year's growth and kept constantly moist until used). You'll also need a razor-sharp blade (an X-acto-brand knife works well) and a supply of commercially produced rubber budding bands or budding tape.

This particular grafting technique involves inserting a vegetative bud cut from the apple variety you want to propagate into a T-shaped flap that's been scored in the rootstock or branch. The cambium layers of the bud and the rootstock will grow together, and the apple variety can begin life on a new understructure.

Here's how to do it: First, select a vigorously growing branch of the apple type you'd like to produce. (If you want an unusual variety, don't despair . . . you can order any of 79 different scions sold by the Worcester County Horticultural Society for only $1.25 each. For a list of those available, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Mrs. Mason, WCHS, Dept. TMEN, 30 Elm Street, Worcester, Massachusetts 01608.) Cut the branch and remove the leaves from this budstick, leaving about a quarter-inch of each leaf stem attached to the stick (they'll make useful handles). Next, make a T-shaped cut into the bark (but not into the wood) of the rootstock or branch you'll be grafting onto. If you're working with rootstock, make the cut at a point 8 to 12 inches above ground level, so you'll be able to transplant the grafted tree deep while still keeping the bud graft 2 inches above the soil (that will prevent the grafted variety from rooting, which would short-circuit the rootstock's dwarfing action). The crossbar of the T-cut should be about 1/2 inch and the descender about 1 inch long.

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