Budding Just a little here on budding. In zones 3-8 most budding is done in May,. June or early July. The easiest method is shield budding. A T cut is made on rootstock stem, cutting through outer bark and cambium, down to hardwood.. Next you cut a thin, shield-shaped slice of wood (from scion wood of cultivar you wish to bud), containing one dormant bud. This shield will be about 3/4th of an inch long. This bud is then inserted in T cut under bark of seedling rootstock. I use thin, clear plastic tie tape to wrap bud up tightly. I will sometimes cut a tiny slice in middle of tape and wrap tape over tip of bud itself, which should just peak out of sliced portion of tape. The tape serves to keep bud in close contact with rootstock and also to keep bud graft from drying out. Keep an eye on budded stem for several weeks and by then if bud and shield are still plump and green, consider it a take. Cut off rest of stem half an inch above new bud graft, and this will force new bud. Budding is not quite as easy to do as grafting, at least not at first. It has several advantages though. You can bud when weather is nice and if bud doesn’t take, you can try it all over again in a different spot. Budding is easiest on thicker rootstocks. I find that for me I have best luck budding roses, apples, pears and apricots. Plums can be a little trickier. Cherries, by way, are considerably more difficult to graft and bud than are other stone fruits. If you are lucky enough to know an old gardener who knows how to graft, ask him or her to show you how to cut your scions. A little practice always helps as does a sharp knife. There are many books with drawings of cleft grafts and these too can be used as guides. It may sound a tad snobby, but once you can graft your own fruit trees, you join a rather select group. Almost all gardeners know what grafting is, but not that many actually know how to do it right. One last thought: cleft grafting is also easy to do on existing dormant fruit trees. There is no reason you can’t graft some different varieties on each of your trees. I have an apple tree with about a dozen kinds of apples on it and a pear tree that has five kinds of pear, plus quince and apple growing on it. I also have almonds growing on one branch of a plum tree, four kinds of plums on another tree, and both plum and nectarine on apricot tree in my front yard. I have five kinds of roses budded on climbing rose that grows on my front porch. I guess my plants are all mixed up, but then, what can you expect from an old guava thief?

Tom Ogren is author of Allergy-Free Gardening, and, Safe Sex in Garden, both by Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, California.