Grafting Classes - Watch this space for grafting classes for 2020. Announcements on specific dates usually take place in February for classes in late March and early April. Below is an example of a class that took place this past spring.
Grafting Class for Topworking Established Trees set for April 27 in Spangle, Washington
Date: April 27, 2019
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 4:30 pm
Cost: $30 (limited to 12 students)
Location: Mercy Acres, farm of Mike and Linda Chase, southeast of Spangle, WA
Instructor: Mike Chase - contact at mikeinspangle@gmail.com or (509)723-4990 (no text) to register for class
Content: Topworking has been widely used by commercial growers to shift an orchard from one variety of fruit that has fallen out of favor (e.g., Rome Beauty) to a variety that is in higher demand (e.g., Honeycrisp). Topworking can also be used by the home orchardist to increase the variety of fruit grown on a particular tree, adding varieties that may not have even been around when the tree was planted (e.g., updating an old Italian prune with some of the new, better tasting selections like Valor, Vision, or Castleton, or maybe all three). Also, the home orchardist can use topworking as an efficient way to have a large selection of heritage varieties in a small space by grafting them on existing trees. The major advantage of topworking is that you have a large root and limb structure in place to support the rapid development of new fruiting limbs for the new variety or varieties being placed on the tree. When topworking a tree you may end up working with limbs of differing sizes and orientation, necessitating the use of different grafting techniques. Because of this, the class will cover all of the major techniques used in topworking, including bark grafting, cleft grafting, wedge grafting, side grafting, and whip and tongue and chip budding for the smaller branches. The class will also cover the proper harvesting and storage of scions to be used in topworking. Reading preparation for the workshop is found under the "Grafting Info" on this website.
Whip and Tongue
Read pages 464 to 471 in Chapter 12 of Hartmann and Kester's Plant Propagation. This section covers the whip and tongue grafting technique and the splice (whip graft) which is a whip without a tongue. These involve dormant rootstock and dormant scions. After grafting the grafted units (the rootstock and attached scion) are placed in storage for callusing at about 70 degrees for a couple of weeks and then kept at cold storage temperatures of about 35 degrees (to prevent breaking dormancy) until time to set out in mid- to late April when danger of severe frost is past. Here is the link to Chapter 12:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/faculty/davies/pdf%20stuff/ph%20final%20galley/M12_DAVI4493_00_SE_C12.pdf
Also check out the sections on the Whip and Tongue in the following additional sources:
Reproducing Fruit Trees by Graftage: Budding and Grafting (from U. of Kentucky Extension)
Grafting and Propagating Fruit Trees (from Penn State Extension)
Grafting and Budding Nursery Crop Plants (from NC State University)
Chip Budding
Read pages 519-521 in Chapter 13 of Hartmann and Kester's Plant Propagation. This section covers the chip budding technique. Pay special attention to the "Spring Budding" technique, which uses dormant scion wood for buds (last year's one-year wood) that are placed on rootstock just before bud-break. The other chip budding techniques are executed during the growing season on growing rootstock and with buds from growing, current-year wood. Be sure to read the captions of the diagrams and pictures, especially look closely at picture (i) down at the bottom of page 520. Here is the link to Chapter 13:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/faculty/davies/pdf%20stuff/ph%20final%20galley/M13_DAVI4493_08_SE_C13.pdf
Also read "Chip Budding" from Cornell University Extension (outstanding photographs of both summer and dormant season chip budding)
https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/hort494/mg/methods.alpha/ChipMeth.html
I also like "Chip Budding: An Old Grafting Technique for Woody Plants With Rediscovered Advantages for Nebraska" (from U. of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension). On page 3 it has the diagram of chip budding that we use in the class. "Reproducing Fruit Trees by Graftage: Budding and Grafting" has a slightly different chip budding diagram (also on page 3). Google for the title of these.
Bark Grafting (a.k.a rind or crown graft)
Begin by reading the content of the WSU extension discussion of bark grafting on their web site. Excellent pictures.
Next read "Successful Apple Grafting Techniques for New York", especially paying attention to the excellent color photos included in this article.
Then look at Figures 9, 10, and 11 in the Penn State ag bulletin on grafting and budding.
Another description of the bark graft procedure is found on pages 21-24 in Chapter 12 of Hartmann and Kester's Plant Propagation (see link below). Here is the link to Chapter 12:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/faculty/davies/pdf%20stuff/ph%20final%20galley/M12_DAVI4493_00_SE_C12.pdf
Other good sources on bark grafting include:
Reproducing Fruit Trees by Graftage: Budding and Grafting (from U. of Kentucky Extension). See page 5.
Grafting and Propagating Fruit Trees (from Penn State Extension). See pages 7 and 8.
Grafting and Budding Nursery Crop Plants (from NC State University). See Figure 2.
Question: Can you top work stone fruit too? You certainly can. Top working enables you to convert over varieties of apples, pears, and stone fruits. Check out this Dave Wilson Nursery video.
Cleft Grafting
For a description of the cleft graft procedure read pages 464 to 471 in Chapter 12 of Hartmann and Kester's Plant Propagation (see link below). Here is the link to Chapter 12:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/faculty/davies/pdf%20stuff/ph%20final%20galley/M12_DAVI4493_00_SE_C12.pdf
There are also good discussions with diagrams and pictures in:
Cleft Grafting on the Cornell University horticulture site. Excellent combo of pictures and diagrams. A must read/see on the cleft graft.
Other sources on cleft grafting include:
The Penn State ag bulletin on grafting and budding, pages 7-8.
Reproducing Fruit Trees by Graftage: Budding and Grafting (from U. of Kentucky Extension). See pages 5 and 6.
Grafting and Propagating Fruit Trees (from Penn State Extension). See pages 7 and 8.
Grafting and Budding Nursery Crop Plants (from NC State University). See Figure 2.
Optional - Read Chapter 11 in Hartman and Kester's Plant Propagation to get an understanding of the science behind grafting. This physiology of the graft union is the topic of this chapter. Here is the link to chapter 11:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/faculty/davies/pdf%20stuff/ph%20final%20galley/M11_DAVI4493_08_SE_C11.pdf
Grafting Knife
Check out the little summary on grafting knives that is here under the "Grafting" menu choice.
Longer, more detailed description of the grafting workshop:
Brief History of Grafting
From historical records, it appears that grafting has been a method of plant propagation for at least 3000 years. Thomas Jefferson’s orchard (late 1700’s and early 1800’s) included grafted apricots, almonds, and pears from France, and grafted peaches from Prince’s nursery in Flushing, New York. Many of the grafting techniques used in Jefferson’s day continue to be used today. If you include modern grafting machine devices, there are over a dozen different grafting and budding techniques discussed in contemporary plant propagation books. Among the most popular techniques for propagating fruit trees are the (1) whip and tongue grafting, also referred to as either whip grafting or tongue grafting, which is done during the dormant season, (2) T-budding, also known as shield budding, which is done during the summer when the bark can be slipped, and (3) chip budding, also known as chip bud grafting, which can be done both in the dormant season and during the growing season, even if the bark is not slipping. Because it provides a superior union over T-budding, chip budding has become the primary method of propagating fruit trees by nurseries. For grafting onto mature trees the bark graft and the cleft graft are commonly used, if the limbs to be grafted to are larger than pencil size. Sometimes only a limb or two are used to attach a new variety (e.g., to add pollinator variety). Other time the whole tree is top-worked to convert from an less popular variety to a variety that has more customer appeal (e.g., whole orchards were converted from Roman Beauty to Delicious or some other more desirable variety).
Expanded Discussion of the Content of This Workshop
This workshop provides a hands-on experience in preparing, placing, and securing four major kinds of grafts, the whip and tongue graft, the chip bud graft, the bark graft, and the cleft graft. The first two techniques can be used in both bench grafting and top-working. The last two techniques are used only in top-working. These grafting techniques can be used on apple, pear, and stone fruit. A key feature of the workshop is supervised practice of the specialized cutting strokes necessary to prepare scions for attachment to understock. It is one thing to see good illustrations of cuts and to observe people making those cuts--it is quite another thing to actually be able to execute those cuts. The old adage about practice, practice, practice certainly applies to gaining grafting skills. The same is true of alignment skills. It is the cambium layers that we are trying to align, not the bark, and that is a real challenge. This is where practice and supervision are so important. Wrapping the aligned scion with the understock looks so easy when the instructor does it, but Bob Purvis has found that even wrapping takes practice, practice, practice. In preparation for this workshop Bob and I had several discussions about how long the workshop should run (there was a lot to learn and practice but we didn't want to wear people out either). We looked at ways to reduce certain activities, like having reading material on line for people to read before coming to the workshop. This would reduce the length of time in the workshop needed to explain things. We also thought that brief one-page summaries with pictures would be helpful in reducing the time it would take to get through the content. But, there was one thing we couldn't shorten--the carefully supervised practice time needed to truly become proficient in knife handling, cambium alignment, and wrapping. So this is why the workshop goes all the way to 6 pm.
Because the precision in knife skills needed execute the whip and tongue and chip bud are much greater than those needed do cleft and bark grafts, we will lead with the bark and cleft grafts, since skills learned on these will transfer nicely to doing whip and tongue and chip budding. Also the alignment involved in cleft and bark grafting is easier and more forgiving than for whip and tongue and chip budding, as is the wrapping process which requires fine finger dexterity to keep things in place (or not knock them out of place) while getting a nice tight binding.
The workshop also provides a conceptual understanding of the callusing process and the critical elements of after-care of grafted material.
The knowledge and skills developed in this workshop provide good transfer of learning for grafting other kinds of plants (for example, nuts, grapes, roses, tomatoes, etc.) and using other kinds of grafting techniques (splice grafting, side grafting, cleft grafting, bark grafting, etc.).
Grafting Class for Topworking Established Trees set for April 27 in Spangle, Washington
Date: April 27, 2019
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 4:30 pm
Cost: $30 (limited to 12 students)
Location: Mercy Acres, farm of Mike and Linda Chase, southeast of Spangle, WA
Instructor: Mike Chase - contact at mikeinspangle@gmail.com or (509)723-4990 (no text) to register for class
Content: Topworking has been widely used by commercial growers to shift an orchard from one variety of fruit that has fallen out of favor (e.g., Rome Beauty) to a variety that is in higher demand (e.g., Honeycrisp). Topworking can also be used by the home orchardist to increase the variety of fruit grown on a particular tree, adding varieties that may not have even been around when the tree was planted (e.g., updating an old Italian prune with some of the new, better tasting selections like Valor, Vision, or Castleton, or maybe all three). Also, the home orchardist can use topworking as an efficient way to have a large selection of heritage varieties in a small space by grafting them on existing trees. The major advantage of topworking is that you have a large root and limb structure in place to support the rapid development of new fruiting limbs for the new variety or varieties being placed on the tree. When topworking a tree you may end up working with limbs of differing sizes and orientation, necessitating the use of different grafting techniques. Because of this, the class will cover all of the major techniques used in topworking, including bark grafting, cleft grafting, wedge grafting, side grafting, and whip and tongue and chip budding for the smaller branches. The class will also cover the proper harvesting and storage of scions to be used in topworking. Reading preparation for the workshop is found under the "Grafting Info" on this website.
Whip and Tongue
Read pages 464 to 471 in Chapter 12 of Hartmann and Kester's Plant Propagation. This section covers the whip and tongue grafting technique and the splice (whip graft) which is a whip without a tongue. These involve dormant rootstock and dormant scions. After grafting the grafted units (the rootstock and attached scion) are placed in storage for callusing at about 70 degrees for a couple of weeks and then kept at cold storage temperatures of about 35 degrees (to prevent breaking dormancy) until time to set out in mid- to late April when danger of severe frost is past. Here is the link to Chapter 12:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/faculty/davies/pdf%20stuff/ph%20final%20galley/M12_DAVI4493_00_SE_C12.pdf
Also check out the sections on the Whip and Tongue in the following additional sources:
Reproducing Fruit Trees by Graftage: Budding and Grafting (from U. of Kentucky Extension)
Grafting and Propagating Fruit Trees (from Penn State Extension)
Grafting and Budding Nursery Crop Plants (from NC State University)
Chip Budding
Read pages 519-521 in Chapter 13 of Hartmann and Kester's Plant Propagation. This section covers the chip budding technique. Pay special attention to the "Spring Budding" technique, which uses dormant scion wood for buds (last year's one-year wood) that are placed on rootstock just before bud-break. The other chip budding techniques are executed during the growing season on growing rootstock and with buds from growing, current-year wood. Be sure to read the captions of the diagrams and pictures, especially look closely at picture (i) down at the bottom of page 520. Here is the link to Chapter 13:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/faculty/davies/pdf%20stuff/ph%20final%20galley/M13_DAVI4493_08_SE_C13.pdf
Also read "Chip Budding" from Cornell University Extension (outstanding photographs of both summer and dormant season chip budding)
https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/hort494/mg/methods.alpha/ChipMeth.html
I also like "Chip Budding: An Old Grafting Technique for Woody Plants With Rediscovered Advantages for Nebraska" (from U. of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension). On page 3 it has the diagram of chip budding that we use in the class. "Reproducing Fruit Trees by Graftage: Budding and Grafting" has a slightly different chip budding diagram (also on page 3). Google for the title of these.
Bark Grafting (a.k.a rind or crown graft)
Begin by reading the content of the WSU extension discussion of bark grafting on their web site. Excellent pictures.
Next read "Successful Apple Grafting Techniques for New York", especially paying attention to the excellent color photos included in this article.
Then look at Figures 9, 10, and 11 in the Penn State ag bulletin on grafting and budding.
Another description of the bark graft procedure is found on pages 21-24 in Chapter 12 of Hartmann and Kester's Plant Propagation (see link below). Here is the link to Chapter 12:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/faculty/davies/pdf%20stuff/ph%20final%20galley/M12_DAVI4493_00_SE_C12.pdf
Other good sources on bark grafting include:
Reproducing Fruit Trees by Graftage: Budding and Grafting (from U. of Kentucky Extension). See page 5.
Grafting and Propagating Fruit Trees (from Penn State Extension). See pages 7 and 8.
Grafting and Budding Nursery Crop Plants (from NC State University). See Figure 2.
Question: Can you top work stone fruit too? You certainly can. Top working enables you to convert over varieties of apples, pears, and stone fruits. Check out this Dave Wilson Nursery video.
Cleft Grafting
For a description of the cleft graft procedure read pages 464 to 471 in Chapter 12 of Hartmann and Kester's Plant Propagation (see link below). Here is the link to Chapter 12:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/faculty/davies/pdf%20stuff/ph%20final%20galley/M12_DAVI4493_00_SE_C12.pdf
There are also good discussions with diagrams and pictures in:
Cleft Grafting on the Cornell University horticulture site. Excellent combo of pictures and diagrams. A must read/see on the cleft graft.
Other sources on cleft grafting include:
The Penn State ag bulletin on grafting and budding, pages 7-8.
Reproducing Fruit Trees by Graftage: Budding and Grafting (from U. of Kentucky Extension). See pages 5 and 6.
Grafting and Propagating Fruit Trees (from Penn State Extension). See pages 7 and 8.
Grafting and Budding Nursery Crop Plants (from NC State University). See Figure 2.
Optional - Read Chapter 11 in Hartman and Kester's Plant Propagation to get an understanding of the science behind grafting. This physiology of the graft union is the topic of this chapter. Here is the link to chapter 11:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/faculty/davies/pdf%20stuff/ph%20final%20galley/M11_DAVI4493_08_SE_C11.pdf
Grafting Knife
Check out the little summary on grafting knives that is here under the "Grafting" menu choice.
Longer, more detailed description of the grafting workshop:
Brief History of Grafting
From historical records, it appears that grafting has been a method of plant propagation for at least 3000 years. Thomas Jefferson’s orchard (late 1700’s and early 1800’s) included grafted apricots, almonds, and pears from France, and grafted peaches from Prince’s nursery in Flushing, New York. Many of the grafting techniques used in Jefferson’s day continue to be used today. If you include modern grafting machine devices, there are over a dozen different grafting and budding techniques discussed in contemporary plant propagation books. Among the most popular techniques for propagating fruit trees are the (1) whip and tongue grafting, also referred to as either whip grafting or tongue grafting, which is done during the dormant season, (2) T-budding, also known as shield budding, which is done during the summer when the bark can be slipped, and (3) chip budding, also known as chip bud grafting, which can be done both in the dormant season and during the growing season, even if the bark is not slipping. Because it provides a superior union over T-budding, chip budding has become the primary method of propagating fruit trees by nurseries. For grafting onto mature trees the bark graft and the cleft graft are commonly used, if the limbs to be grafted to are larger than pencil size. Sometimes only a limb or two are used to attach a new variety (e.g., to add pollinator variety). Other time the whole tree is top-worked to convert from an less popular variety to a variety that has more customer appeal (e.g., whole orchards were converted from Roman Beauty to Delicious or some other more desirable variety).
Expanded Discussion of the Content of This Workshop
This workshop provides a hands-on experience in preparing, placing, and securing four major kinds of grafts, the whip and tongue graft, the chip bud graft, the bark graft, and the cleft graft. The first two techniques can be used in both bench grafting and top-working. The last two techniques are used only in top-working. These grafting techniques can be used on apple, pear, and stone fruit. A key feature of the workshop is supervised practice of the specialized cutting strokes necessary to prepare scions for attachment to understock. It is one thing to see good illustrations of cuts and to observe people making those cuts--it is quite another thing to actually be able to execute those cuts. The old adage about practice, practice, practice certainly applies to gaining grafting skills. The same is true of alignment skills. It is the cambium layers that we are trying to align, not the bark, and that is a real challenge. This is where practice and supervision are so important. Wrapping the aligned scion with the understock looks so easy when the instructor does it, but Bob Purvis has found that even wrapping takes practice, practice, practice. In preparation for this workshop Bob and I had several discussions about how long the workshop should run (there was a lot to learn and practice but we didn't want to wear people out either). We looked at ways to reduce certain activities, like having reading material on line for people to read before coming to the workshop. This would reduce the length of time in the workshop needed to explain things. We also thought that brief one-page summaries with pictures would be helpful in reducing the time it would take to get through the content. But, there was one thing we couldn't shorten--the carefully supervised practice time needed to truly become proficient in knife handling, cambium alignment, and wrapping. So this is why the workshop goes all the way to 6 pm.
Because the precision in knife skills needed execute the whip and tongue and chip bud are much greater than those needed do cleft and bark grafts, we will lead with the bark and cleft grafts, since skills learned on these will transfer nicely to doing whip and tongue and chip budding. Also the alignment involved in cleft and bark grafting is easier and more forgiving than for whip and tongue and chip budding, as is the wrapping process which requires fine finger dexterity to keep things in place (or not knock them out of place) while getting a nice tight binding.
The workshop also provides a conceptual understanding of the callusing process and the critical elements of after-care of grafted material.
The knowledge and skills developed in this workshop provide good transfer of learning for grafting other kinds of plants (for example, nuts, grapes, roses, tomatoes, etc.) and using other kinds of grafting techniques (splice grafting, side grafting, cleft grafting, bark grafting, etc.).