Grafting is a Miracle of sorts in the Orchard!

Apple trees have different rootstocks depending upon the eventual desired size of the tree, the soil conditions available, and the amount of water the tree might receive. The old fashioned "Standard" rootstock is not very common anymore. So often dwarf or semi-dwarf trees are what will be sold in the nurseries. Most people are buying trees for their back yard, and they may not have room for a full grown tree. The other consideration is that "Standard" rootstock can take from 6 to ten years to begin bearing a crop. However, though it takes time to get established, these trees will be hearty, disease and insect resistant and able to survive in challenging conditions. I like this old rootstock. What I like even more though is cutting small twigs, called scions, from the existing old trees and grafting these cuttings onto other apple starts. Usually when an apple tree dies above the grafted spot found near the root, suckers will grow out of the root very spontaneously. While these will typically not make good apple trees, they make a great partner for the cut scions and by using a grafting method, some waxed paper and tree adhesive, the sucker can become a new thriving real honest to goodness fruit bearing tree. I told you it was a miracle! Yesterday when I was in the orchard, I noticed I have three successfully grafted trees, where the little scion branch came from an old glorious Gravenstein Tree. I hope to practice on a few more this coming spring. This is about as close to creating a live plant as I may ever get. Yippee!