What do the terms grafting and budding mean? Budding
is a form of grafting. Grafting is the art of attaching a
piece of one plant to another plant, creating a new plant.
Grafting is usually done because the desired plant is extremely
difficult if not impossible to propagate through other means.
Dogwoods for example are easily grown from seed,
however, it is next to impossible to grow a pink dogwood from
seed. The seeds from a Pink Dogwood will produce seedlings
that are likely to flower white. The most common method for
producing Pink Dogwood trees is to remove a single bud from a
Pink Dogwood tree and slip it under the bark of a White Dogwood
seedling. This process is known as budding, and the seedling
is known as the rootstock. This is usually done during the
late summer months when the bark of the White Dogwood seedling
can be easily separated from the tree, and the seedling is
about 1/4" in diameter.
A very small "T" shaped cut is made in the bark only,
and the bud is slipped in the slot. The actual bud itself is
allowed to poke out through the opening and then the wound is
wrapped with a rubber band both above and below the bud. By
the following spring the bud will have grafted itself to the
seedling, at which time the seedling is cut off just above the
Pink Dogwood bud, and the bud then grows into a Pink Dogwood
tree.
Budding is usually done at ground level, and often
times the rootstock will send up shoots from below the bud
union. These shoots often called suckers should removed as
soon as they appear because they are from the rootstock and are
not the same variety as the rest of the plant. Flowering
Crabapples are also budded and are notorious for producing
suckers.
When removing these suckers don't just clip them off at
ground level with pruning shears, they will just grow back.
Pull back the soil or mulch and remove them from the tree
completely at the point where they emerge from the stem. Most
people clip them off a couple of inches from the ground, and
then they grow back with multiple shoots. This drives me
crazy! Get down as low as you can and remove them completely
and you will keep them under control. On older trees that have
been improperly pruned for years I take a digging spade and
literally attack these suckers hacking them away from the
stem. Sure this does a little damage to the stem of the tree,
but when a plant is let go like that I figure it's a do or die
situation. The trees always survive and thrive.
Other plants are grafted up high to create a weeping
effect. One of the most popular trees that is grafted up high
is the top graft Weeping Cherry. In this case the seedling is
allowed to grow to a height of 5', then the weeping variety is
grafted on to the rootstock at a height of about 5'. This
creates an umbrella type effect. In this case the graft union
is 5' off the ground, therefore anything that grows from the
stem below that graft union must be removed.
Many people don't understand this and before they know
it they have a branch 2" in diameter growing up through the
weeping canopy of their tree. Before you know it there are
several branches growing upright through the canopy and the
effect of the plant is completely ruined.
Another interesting plant that is grafted is the
Weeping Cotoneaster. In this case the seedling that is grown
to serve as the rootstock is Paul's Scarlet Hawthorn, and
Cotoneaster Apiculata is grafted onto the Hawthorn rootstock at
a height of 5'. Years ago a nurseryman found through
experimentation that these two plants are actually compatible,
and a beautiful and unique plant was created. I have one of
these in my landscape and we love it.
Once again since the graft union is at 5', any growth
coming from the stem (rootstock) must be removed. In this case
the growth coming from the rootstock will be Hawthorn and will
look completely different from the Cotoneaster which is what
the plant is supposed to be.
The easiest way to keep up with this type of pruning is
to keep an eye on your grafted plants when you're in the yard.
As soon as you see new growth coming from below the graft
union, just pick up it with your finger nail. If you catch
these new buds when they first emerge, pruning them off is as
easy as that.
Walk around your yard and look for grafted or budded
plants, and see if you can find any that have growth that
doesn't seem to match the rest of the plant. Look closely and
you may find that the growth is coming from below a graft or
bud union.
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About The Author
If you have questions for Mike McGroarty visit his website,
http://www.freeplants.com and post them on the message board
where you can learn lots of gardening tips and communicate with
other gardeners. While at his website you can learn how to
start your own profitable backyard nursery. If you would like
a copy of Mike's booklet, "The Secret of Growing Landscape
Plants from Scratch", send .00 to: Garden Secrets, P.O. Box
338, Perry, Ohio 44081
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