What can be grafted onto mountain ash?

Perhaps everyone, whatever he does, and whatever his craft is, has an inner thirst for discovery inherent in children. Indeed, it is a real pleasure to discover something, to be the first in something. Otherwise, gardeners would not spend years of their lives breeding the most beautiful varieties of roses or growing the largest bulb. However, today you will learn about perhaps the simplest way to create and create, available to any gardener. And this method is rowan grafting.

Why do you need rowan grafting

Pear grafting on mountain ash

For many gardeners, at the thought of inoculating, for example, a pear on an apple tree, confusion begins in their heads. An apple tree is an apple tree and a pear is a pear. Why combine them into one tree. However, in fact, this procedure has a huge number of advantages that many, unfortunately, often do not notice.

Let's say you have a very whimsical plant, the cultivation of which takes a lot of time and effort. In this case, you may well graft it on something else. In this way, the rootstock plant (this is the name of the mother plant to which the graft is being made) will share its strengths with the scion plant (the plant that is grafted onto the mother plant).

How rowan grafting works

The mechanism of this procedure is that two different plants are combined into one organism. However, the rootstock and the scion must have common ancestors in order to be compatible for grafting. Otherwise, tissue rejection may well occur, and you will only harm the stock. In addition, in order for even related plants to grow together, the cuttings of the rootstock and scion must have an appropriate depth.

What are the benefits of vaccination

Pear grafting on mountain ash

As strange and unnatural as this procedure may seem, it presents both the scion plant and the root plant with many advantages that they would not have been able to acquire in any other way.

These advantages include:

1. Obtaining the desired varietal qualities from a hybrid plant, given that it grows in conditions that are not most suitable for it. For example, a cold-resistant plant may well shelter a non-winter-hardy plant on its branches and provide it with protection during the winter cold.
2. Saving site space. Most gardeners have far from unlimited territory, and therefore the question of free space is extremely acute. I would like to have as many plants and their varieties as possible, but at the same time not burden yourself with the daily care of several hectares of plantings. In such a situation, vaccinations are saved, which allow you to fit, roughly speaking, several plants at once in place of one.
3. In the event that you, suddenly, did not like the plant variety you bought, by grafting it can be practically painlessly replaced with another quickly and without even digging the first plant.
4. Using the grafting method, you, roughly speaking, grow a full-fledged plant, but you spend many times less time and resources on it than you could in any other scenario. And this also means that you will receive the fruits not in a few years, but already, for example, in the next season.
5. Restoring a plant that has received significant damage during life is also a rather useful function of grafting.Plus, not only do you get a healthy plant at the end of the operation, but you also get two plants instead of one.
6. What gardener would not like the plant to grow exclusively where he tells him. However, with the help of vaccinations, such a trick is quite possible.
7. More efficient propagation of varietal and hybrid plants. Unfortunately, propagating them by seeds is an extremely thankless and useless work, because after a couple of generations all the special qualities of the variety will be lost forever. However, grafting allows you to endlessly propagate hybrids without losing their features.

Why is the rowan grafting chosen?

According to most experts, mountain ash is the most suitable tree for growing other plants on itself. The fact is that mountain ash can grow on almost any soil: both on swampy and acidic, and on absolutely neutral.

It has a very comfortable and compact crown. Let's not forget that mountain ash is an incredibly hardy plant. With good care, it can withstand over 50 degrees below zero. In addition, it is mountain ash that has a huge number of kinship ties with many fruit trees. Everything that has been written above makes mountain ash one of the most suitable candidates for the role of rootstock for almost any scion.

Rowan grafting: which species are most suitable

That's right, there are also a huge number of types of vaccinations, and which one to choose is for the most part a matter of purely taste. Nevertheless, the mountain ash of them prefers quite certain species, the list of which is headed by grafting in a split and in a side cut.

Perhaps it is worth talking in more detail about the first of these two options, since it is the simplest of all.

This vaccination method implies, as you might guess, split (split) the rootstock trunk. The selected scion stalk is inserted into the resulting crack. In fact, it's as easy as it sounds. This process is especially simplified by the fact that it does not require any additional knowledge and preparatory work from the gardener. Everything you need to know to have a successful surgery, you most likely already know.

The only thing you need to watch very closely is the cuttings. They must necessarily protrude slightly above the cleavage level. It is equally important to cover up the operation site with garden varnish, since it is very vulnerable to bacteria, infections and fungi. But wrapping a tree, unlike many other methods, is not at all necessary. Although, to be sure of success, this can still be done.

Caring for the grafted tree is no less important. It is especially necessary in the first weeks, and therefore try to provide both the scion and the stock with good shading.

Analyzing the second method of grafting, it should be noted that, in principle, it is also quite easy to learn, and you will not need any advanced skills in the field of gardening. To implement it, you need to cut off the one you like stalk from the parent plant of the scion.

The cut should be quite long: at least two and a half the diameter of the scion itself. After we have received a cutting with a cut on one side, it is necessary to cut it on the other, thus forming a wedge. On the rootstock, you need to make a small but deep cut in the shape of the letter "T". Then the edges are pushed aside and a previously prepared scion stalk is inserted into them.

When carrying out this operation, it is imperative to wrap everything with twine or a grafting tape specially created for such purposes. In order to track how successful the vaccination was, you will have to wait from two to three weeks. Only after this period it will be clear whether the scion has taken root on the rootstock or not.

If the bark begins to thicken at the grafting site, it means that something went wrong and the experiment can be repeated.If rejection is not observed, then after four to five weeks the winding applied to the vaccination site can be removed, and after seven weeks the success of the operation will finally become clear.

In addition, it is important to keep an eye on the branches with tops. They need to be cut, but not all of them, since they protect the scion well from drafts.

When is rowan inoculated?

Usually, rowan grafting, like almost any other gardening operations, is performed in the spring, since this is the most optimal season. Best of all for vaccinations in biological terms, the beginning of the period of movement of juices is suitable. This means that the scion cuttings must be prepared even earlier: two weeks before the operation itself. After cutting, they must be stored in a cool place.

Important! It is highly undesirable to vaccinate on a rootstock younger than two years old.

On the other hand, many vaccinations carried out in the summer and even in the fall are also successful. Let's say more: even in winter, a stalk can be grafted into a mountain ash. However, it is worth noting that in all these cases, the degree of survival falls significantly in comparison with the procedures carried out in the spring.

Therefore, if you really really want to try the vaccine, and spring has just passed, you can try your luck in the summer season. However, if possible, try to meet the spring deadlines.

Pear grafting on mountain ash

Pear grafting on mountain ash

The first plants that were grafted onto mountain ash were pears. Such an experiment was carried out to increase their fruiting in the middle lane, where they showed, frankly, not the most champion results.

Unfortunately, not all varieties were well compatible with the stock. It also happened that some varieties froze to death at the very first winter cold. However, those with whom the operation was still carried out successfully showed very good results in the future.

There is an opinion that all these well-grafted varieties came from one common ancestor - the Ussuri pear. It is these varieties that can be used in order to graft on mountain ash and others, less compatible. This works because in the year that a compatible variety spends on rowan, it will have time to "get used" to pears and will be able to allow even the least compatible varieties to grow on itself.

It is quite possible to look for a stock even in the forest. Most often, the most compatible rowan trees will grow next to conifers: spruces and pines. If the choice is great, you should give preference to that tree, the diameter of which will not exceed three centimeters (one meter from the ground level).

After digging up the mountain ash, the surest action will be to wrap the root in a bag (for better preservation). As already mentioned, the best grafting methods on such a stock would be rowan grafting into the split and rowan grafting into the side cut.

However, a pear grafted onto a mountain ash has one serious problem: the pear grows and develops much faster than the rootstock. And therefore, in the near future, its branches will be much thicker than those of the mountain ash itself. Because of this, an extremely unpleasant situation can occur: the crown of the tree will be so large and massive that the trunk simply cannot withstand it.

In order to avoid this unpleasant situation, you should:

1. Take advantage of the support. This is the simplest and at the same time the most reliable method of all. The support will be, in fact, the second trunk, which will prevent the scion from collapsing.
2. The second method is much more complicated, and therefore it would be much preferable to choose the first one. Nevertheless, if you want, you can plant a few more small mountain ash trees next to the stock and combine all their trunks, thus creating a solid structure.

When carrying out vaccination, there is another very important rule: it is advisable to remove the branches of the stock. The fact is that otherwise the branches of the mountain ash will dominate and suppress the pear. However, this does not mean that mountain ash should not remain on the mountain ash at all.

At least 25 percent of all branches must belong to the mother plant, since only they can produce exactly those products of photosynthesis that are needed by the stock. Let's not forget about watering. In the end, mountain ash, although not a particularly whimsical plant, consumes just a huge amount of water.

Therefore, especially if the season is dry, the plant that has been inoculated, just be sure to water as abundantly as possible. If you do not do this, you risk getting a much less juicy, plentiful and high-quality crop than you expected.

And in order not to waste an excessive amount of water for irrigation, we suggest that you carry out mulching. This is not a necessary procedure, but it is incredibly rewarding. In addition to retaining moisture, which is its primary task, it also copes well with weed control.

Grafting an apple tree and other plants on a mountain ash

Grafting an apple tree on a mountain ash

Naturally, the pear is not the only tree that can be grafted onto the mountain ash. At a minimum, its closest relative, the apple tree, should have a fairly high survival rate on mountain ash, right? Yes, this is true, but only if you choose the right variety. For example, the plum apple tree shows very good survival rate.

And, of course, who, if not another variety of the mountain ash itself, can be the best candidate for a scion for mountain ash? However, besides itself, chokeberry is well grafted onto mountain ash, which, after grafting, forms a very compact and beautiful bush, without losing its taste.

Also, irgu or dogwood can be listed as good plants for scion. Also, everyone's favorite hawthorn shows an extremely good result when vaccinated on mountain ash. It, just like chokeberry, after the procedure forms an extremely compact, comfortable and beautiful bush.

But such crops as, for example, plums or cherries, show by no means a positive result when grafted onto mountain ash. Their problem is that these plants absolutely do not tolerate stagnant moisture, which, on the contrary, is loved by mountain ash.

So any attempt to plant one of these plants on it will either end in disaster or with noticeably less impressive results than you might expect.

Rowan grafting: small tips for gardeners

Lemon grafting on mountain ash

Unfortunately, many gardeners often give up the idea of ​​vaccination, because the procedure can never be crowned with success. It would seem that you have followed all the specified recommendations and carefully read all the instructions, but the result is still extremely negative.

This can happen for many reasons, so we will try to prevent, if not all, then most of them.

• First of all, it is very important to ensure that the operation is carried out cleanly. In the end, we are working with a bare cambium, and it is very easy to inject some infection into it.
• Many also grossly underestimate the importance of choosing the correct timing for vaccination. But in a way, a well-chosen time is already half the success of the procedure. Weather conditions are equally important. For example, strong winds and burning sun can deliberately ruin your vaccination result.
• Choosing a grafting method that is not suitable for your plant can also be fatal.
• If the sizes of the cuttings of the rootstock scion are too strikingly different, it can happen that, no matter how compatible the plants are, they simply will not grow together.
• It is also important to choose good vaccination tools. For example, a poorly sharpened knife can leave large cuts on the cuts, which will not contribute to the vaccination in any way, but on the contrary - it slows it down or even makes the vaccination impossible.
• Prolonged vaccination.If you do not carry out all the work quickly, the surface of the slices will begin to oxidize, and this is fraught with the fact that the stock and scion will not take root. The better you prepare and the faster you complete the procedure, the better the result will be.
• Folding the scion and rootstock not according to the rules. It would seem that this is a trifle, but this trifle can lead not only to the rejection of the vaccine, but also to decay.
• The strapping is too loose. It also does not promote fusion at all. It will be much better if, during the vaccination, you tighten it tighter, and after a while, having discovered the consequences of a tight screed, loosen the tape.

Conclusion

However, no matter how explored this area may seem, it is important to understand that absolutely all interactions of each plant with any other simply cannot be verified and described. Therefore, most of the vaccinations are carried out without exact knowledge of the result of the operation. So trial and error is welcome here.

If you fail to carry out a successful operation, analyze what you could have done wrong, try to fix these errors and just try again. In the end, it’s better than serving your hands and giving up. This is precisely the worst thing you can do.

Who would not say what, and vaccinations are still one of the most, if not the most useful technique that has ever been developed by gardeners. The number of its applications is huge, and its simplicity allows even beginners who know nothing about gardening to achieve good success in the field of vaccinations.

We hope our article helped you figure out how to graft almost any fruit tree on an unremarkable mountain ash, and you will not have any difficulties with this.