How to properly graft an apple tree in summer, spring and autumn with fresh cuttings for beginners step by step

When there is little space in the garden, but you want different varieties of apples to grow in it, you can solve this problem by grafting. This procedure also helps to improve the variety and create a tree that is resistant to diseases and temperature changes. A competent gardener knows how to properly graft an apple tree in order to quickly get the desired result.

Why do you need to graft an apple tree?

Each gardener has his own reasons for grafting an apple tree. Here are the most common:

1. To grow several varieties of apples on one tree. This is especially true when there is little space on the plot or garden plot.
2. To preserve the variety. It happens that somewhere near the house there is an old apple tree, and its life is coming to an end or it has been damaged by pests. In order not to lose this variety, it is grafted onto a suitable rootstock.
3. To improve the tree's hardiness. To do this, cultivated tender varieties are grafted onto more hardy wild varieties with a good root system. This will allow the tree to better withstand frost and drought. There will also be fewer problems with pests.
4. So as not to take seedlings from somewhere, but to grow them yourself. It takes several years to obtain a sample from a tree. And if the variety is not what you wanted, time will be lost. It is more profitable to graft the variety you need yourself.
5. Some gardeners engage in grafting for fun, as a hobby.
6. Also, without grafting it is impossible to grow a dwarf apple tree.

The grafted tree will always retain the varietal qualities of the scion. If you graft early varieties onto late wildflowers, the result will be an early variety, and not vice versa. The rootstock is needed only for the root system.

How to understand that a tree is ready for grafting

To get a good result from grafting, you need to know whether the tree is ready for such a procedure. There are a few simple rules for rootstock:

1. The tree must be at least three years old, with a well-developed root system.
2. It should be strong, without damage or signs of disease.
3. It is better to vaccinate during active sap flow. At this time, the bark of the trees is moist and elastic. It can be easily removed from the tree.If the bark is difficult to remove, it means that sap flow has not yet begun, and the grafted cutting may not take root.

If a mature perennial tree is used as a rootstock, it must be cleared of damaged old branches and the cut areas must be carefully treated. To do this, you can use special products, paint or ordinary lime. This will prevent infection and block access for small pests.

Required tools and materials

Tree grafting can be compared to a surgical operation, therefore there are a number of requirements for instruments:

1. The main tool for grafting is a garden knife. It must be very sharp so that it minimally injures the tree. It also needs to be treated with a disinfectant. Regular alcohol or an alcohol-containing product is suitable for this. You can use peroxide or iodine.
2. Secateurs. It is used when you need to clear a tree of excess shoots.
3. To clear larger branches, use a garden saw.
4. Banding material. For this purpose, ordinary adhesive tape, electrical tape, twine, or a piece of film may be suitable. It is important that the material is durable and fits well.
5. Material for covering wounds. If you do not use it, the quality of the vaccine deteriorates significantly and nothing may work out. To do this, use garden pitch, paint, special putty or regular plasticine. The main purpose of the putty is to block air access to wounds and prevent infection.

The success of vaccination depends 50% on the quality of equipment. Violations in this area are not permitted.

Timing of apple tree grafting

There are several dates when you can graft an apple tree. But the best are still in early spring, when sap flow begins.

in spring

The best time to graft an apple tree is at the moment nature awakens from hibernation.When the frosts subsided and the sun began to warm up, all the plants began to grow rapidly.

During this period, the scion takes root best. He has no shortage of nutrition, because he gets everything he needs from the juice of the rootstock.

All this happens in March-April, depending on the region. At this time it is better to do cutting grafting. Budding is done a little later, in early May.

In summer

Summer grafting is carried out in mid- or late August, depending on the region. At this time, the period of the second sap flow begins in the trees. In the northern regions this occurs in July.

At this time, it is better to use a dormant bud for the scion. It takes root better than cuttings, since it requires less nutrition. It is better to take the buds fresh - immediately after cutting them from the tree, transfer them to the rootstock.

in autumn

Autumn budding occurs at the end of September - beginning of October, subject to warm weather. If the daytime temperature drops below 15 degrees, it is risky to vaccinate; it may not take root.

In autumn, it is better to use methods under the bark or in splits. And do this on young trees. Mature trees do not like autumn interventions and may become diseased.

Vaccination methods

Many methods of grafting trees have been known for a long time. A cutting or bud is used as a scion. It can be taken dormant or germinating.

Grafting is done behind the bark, in a split, by a bridge, by copulation, budding and others. For novice gardeners, it is better to try split cuttings or budding. Let's take a closer look at the most common methods.

Bud and cuttings

Grafting with a bud is called budding, and grafting with a cutting is called copulation. The material for the procedure is prepared in advance and stored in a cold place, or collected immediately before work.

Bud grafting can be done in early spring or autumn after the leaves have fallen. Cuttings are collected in the fall and used in the spring. If the grafted cuttings become covered with green shoots in the summer, they must be removed, leaving the strongest ones.

Into the cleft

This method is quite simple and effective. You can use one cutting or up to four at a time.

Gives good results when re-grafting of an apple tree is required. For example, when a grafted apple tree grew up, it gave a test, but the fruits were not as expected. In this case, you can cut off the branches and plant another variety in place of the cut.

They are done on trees where the thickness of the branches does not exceed 5 cm in diameter, and their age is no more than 6 years. The vaccination is done as follows:

1. Carefully cut down the branch at the site where the procedure will be performed. Tools must be disinfected before work.
2. Use a sharp knife to split the cut in half. If you plan to pin 4 cuttings at once and the thickness of the cut allows, the split is made crosswise.
3. To prevent the wood from closing, a small peg is first inserted into the split.
4. The cutting from below is carefully cut into a wedge and inserted into the split so that it fits tightly. It is important that the cambium layer on the cutting matches the cambium on the rootstock.
5. The rootstock branch or stump is tightly tied with garter material so that the split is squeezed as much as possible.
6. Then all places where there is no bark are carefully covered with any material prepared for this.

If one cutting is grafted, it should be slightly thinner than the rootstock. But if more are grafted, they need to be taken thinner so that they fit well and feel comfortable. When placing cuttings, you need to ensure the alignment of the cambium.

First, one split is widened and two cuttings are inserted on the sides.Then the wedge is moved into the second split and two other cuttings are inserted.

Eye budding

To carry out bud budding, you first need to determine the location of the graft. This could be under a branch or on a tree trunk. To do this you need to do the following:

1. From a suitable tree, cut a bud along with a small piece of bark.
2. In the place where the grafting is intended, the bark is cut in the shape of the letter T.
3. Then it is carefully pulled apart and the cut out peephole is inserted. The boundaries of the cambium must coincide.
4. The bark is pressed and tied with dressing material. Insulating tape or adhesive tape is best suited for these purposes.

You cannot remove the bandage during the summer, but you need to make sure that it does not pinch the tree and loosen it if necessary.

The good thing about this method is that it saves planting material.

Grafting pruner

Currently, there are special pruners that allow you to properly cut cuttings for this job. Here's how to do it step by step:

1. Take a fresh or pre-prepared cutting.
2. The tip is cut off with a pruner.
3. Then the branch where the grafting will be carried out is cut off. It is important that the thickness of the material matches.
4. The cutting is inserted into the cut and wrapped tightly with adhesive tape.

The work is very easy and convenient, but reviews of this method are mostly negative and the survival rate is low.

By the bridge

This method allows you to save a tree when its bark is severely damaged and it may die. The cuttings are grafted onto the trunk to restore the canals.

If damage is discovered, it must be urgently treated and covered with garden varnish. This way it can hold out until the next sap flow. Before starting, you need to make bridges from the cuttings, through which the sap will flow to the crown of the tree.

You need to do the following:

1. Prepare cuttings slightly longer in size than the wounds on the tree.
2. Clean off the putty on the wood and trim the edges of the wound.
3. Under and above the wound, cut the bark in the shape of the letter T.
4. Remove buds from the cuttings and trim the ends with an oblique cut.
5. Insert the ends of the cuttings under the tree bark from the bottom side. It is important that the cuttings are positioned correctly, not upside down, so that the juice moves upward.
6. Tie the tree where the cuts are, pressing the cuttings tightly.
7. Insert the upper ends under the bark.
8. Tie the top of the tree.

If everything is done correctly, the tree can still live for several years and give the opportunity to graft it onto another tree.

For the bark

This is one of the simplest and most effective methods for grafting an apple tree cutting into the right place. Cuttings from young trees or fresh annual shoots are used. This is done in the following way:

1. A place to work is selected. This could be a cut down central trunk, a stump or a thick branch. The main thing is to have a healthy, elastic bark.
2. The edge of the bark is cut from top to bottom by 4-5 cm. The bark is cut to the wood.
3. The cutting is prepared in advance, but the cut is made immediately before the procedure. Cut off the end with an oblique cut, the diameter of which is four times greater than the diameter of the cutting.
4. The cutting is inserted behind the bark, but not to the full depth of the cut; it should be 2 mm above the cut.
5. Tightly wrap the trunk or branch where the cutting is inserted.
6. Cover open areas with varnish.

This method allows grafting onto trees of varying thickness and age. You can put several cuttings at once, but then leave the strongest ones.

Choice of scion and rootstock

Cultivated varieties are usually grafted onto wild animals.But options are possible when a certain variety is grafted onto a seedling of the same variety.

The scion is selected from a fruit tree of the variety you like. The tree must be healthy and produce good harvests. If there is a suspicion that it is sick, it is necessary to treat it during the summer.

It is better to prepare cuttings in the fall and store until spring. They are cut with a sharp knife at a distance of 30-40 cm from the edge; they should have at least 3-4 buds. The cut is made obliquely, and its diameter should be greater than the diameter of the cutting itself. Then the cut site is treated with garden pitch or other putty material and taken out for storage. The cuttings are stored in the basement, but you need to make sure that they do not start to grow. It is better to prepare them with a reserve, so that in the spring you can choose those that overwintered better. They must be clean and free of stains.

As a rootstock for an apple tree, it is better to use a wild young apple tree or a seedling of a cultivated variety. You can graft on an old tree if you need to renew it. It is important that the rootstock is healthy, without signs of disease, without compromising the integrity of the bark.

An apple tree can also be grafted onto pear, rowan, quince and hawthorn. But this may affect the result and such a tree will not live long. In addition, with such a relationship, the quality of the fruit may deteriorate. They may become small and not as tasty.

Features in different regions

Different climatic regions have their own characteristics.

Spring vaccination in the southern regions is done two weeks earlier than in northern latitudes. There you can start budding as early as March, while in colder places the time is pushed back to mid-April - early May.

Summer budding in the northern regions occurs earlier than in the southern regions.It is carried out from mid-July to early August, while in the southern regions it can be carried out until mid-September.

Autumn grafting is not carried out in northern latitudes. Due to early frosts, the scion dies. You can take a chance and wrap the tree well. But the chances are very small and it is better not to injure the tree again, but to postpone the procedure until spring.

Possible mistakes of novice gardeners

Beginning gardeners may not know many of the subtleties and make mistakes when grafting an apple tree. This leads to failure and wasted time. Here are a few reasons why you may fail:

1. An infection has been introduced into the budding site. It could have been brought in with dirty tools or hands, touching the cut areas.
2. The timing of the procedure was calculated incorrectly.
3. The cuttings were prepared correctly, but were stored in a warm place and began to grow ahead of time, or began to dry out.
4. The cambium layers did not match or shifted.
5. Poor quality putty with harmful impurities was used.
6. No insulation was provided for the winter.

Some gardeners wrap the procedure site in film, forgetting to leave air access. In hot weather this leads to steaming and death of the scion. The rootstock may also suffer from this.

Apple tree care after grafting

To achieve success, the correct procedure is not enough. The tree needs to be looked after, otherwise the scion may not have time to grow stronger and will dry out over time. Care consists of the following:

1. It is important to ensure that the cuttings have enough moisture. If the summer is dry, the grafting site can be wrapped in film, after pouring a little earth between the wood and the film. It needs to be moistened regularly as it dries.
2. To prevent the cutting from being broken by birds or wind, it needs to be protected. Cover with a paper bag or tie to a peg.
3. For the winter, the scion is wrapped in burlap so that it does not die from frost.
4. You need to watch the dressing. It must be taken into account that the tree is growing, and the dense dressing material compresses it. If this happens, the dressing must be loosened regularly. When the grafting site is completely healed, the dressing is completely removed.
5. A grafted apple tree will produce many new wild shoots. They need to be cleaned regularly as they weaken the wood.

Otherwise, care is the same as for a regular fruit tree - fertilizing, watering, removing weeds and loosening the soil.