Fruit Tree Grafting

Tree grafting is a technique to take a cutting from one tree and propagate it on another tree. Each spring I try my luck at grafting cuttings from my apple orchard onto wild (scrub) apples trees I find growing on our property.

This year I'm trying to propagate some of my neighbor's bartlett pears onto wild pear trees. There are several different grafting techniques, but this is a quick/easy one. First select the cuttings to propagate and trees to graft onto. I have selected a vertical branch on the wild pear tree, removed the top section and will use the base to receive the bartlett pear cuttings, known as scions.

After selecting a couple of 3 to 4 inch scions I taper about 1.5 inches of the bottom of each to form a wedge point.



Using a sharp knife I split the wild pear branch and insert the scions. To make a tree graft successful, the cambium cell layer of the scion must be in contact with the cambium cell layer of the receiving tree. The greenish layer of the scions is the cambium cell layer.



Press the scions in and align the cambium cell layers.



With the scions in place I secure them with cheap electrical tape (something that will deteriorate within a year). If the scion develops buds and leaves I will know the graft was successful and within a few years I will have some bartlett pears.