Garden innovations - grafting

Grafting is the act of taking a mature branch from one plant and then attaching it to the root system of another. There are many advantages associated with grafting woody plant - a better chance of increased propagation and seeing fruit or flower much sooner. Most fruit trees and roses are grafted. Here are some tips for performing this technological wizardry in your own garden:

Use a sharp knife - they say that a grafting knife should be sharp enough to shave hair from your arm and when grafting, you need to make a smooth cut, and a swift one. Specialised grafting knives come in right and left-handed forms.

Collect bud-sticks carefully - you should not use young portions of the plant, as these are green and not woody enough, and don't make good grafts. Nor should you use very old stems as they do not graft easily. The ideal stems are young and firm. Some guidelines: roses should be cut when the blossoms are beginning to drop from the bush and before new buds are swelling for the next growth; woody plants should be cut when the buds are beginning to swell with new growth; fruit trees are at the ideal stage when the most recent flush has just hardened.

Cut the wood properly - as a poor cut leads to a poor graft. Before cutting the plant you want to graft, find a similar diameter stick or branch and practice.

Use specialist grafting tape - this can be either non-gummed polyethylene budding tape or parafilm. With the non-gummed tape, you need to stretch it to the point it almost breaks and you will have to tie the tape when you finish the wrap. With parafilm you do not have to unwrap it from the graft later, and it sticks to itself so you don't have tot tie it. In warm weather a wrap should stay about a month and longer during cold weather.

Garden innovation graft photograph by eye of einstein, used under a creative commons attribution licence