Grafting is a costly process requiring the purchase of rootstock, coolers, or refrigerators for the storage of scions, heated greenhouses, and the essential tools of grafting: knives, rubber ties, and wax.
In addition, grafting success is unpredictable. However, grafting may be the only method to efficiently propagate a given species or variety. For instance, the majority of dwarf conifers cannot be successfully cloned by means of cutting propagation. Selections of Japanese maple (Acer palmatum), arboreal dogwoods (Cornus), European beech (Fagus sylvatica), hybrid witch-hazels (Hamamelis), and oak cultivars (Quercus) are additional examples of woody plants that are still largely grafted.
Those are a few reasons this horticultural art is still practiced by a loyal group of nurserymen.
When he got started in horticulture, Wayne Staehely was intrigued by the art of grafting. He now owns his own wholesale growing operation, Columbia Nursery LLC in Oregon.
Wayne chooses to graft his young plants partially by necessity, but partly by choice. Some of the woodier material could be propagated through tissue culture, but it wouldn’t be worth the time he would have to put into it. Cuttings aren’t always possible for woodier items; they grow slower and not as well on their own rootstock.
Sometimes he buys liners to bring in new stock or new varieties. But you aren’t guaranteed to receive what you order in the amount you ordered. For instance, if he’s looking for a particular blue spruce, grafting offers more certainty.
“You know the scion wood that you’re getting. If I order a ‘Fat Albert’ from a nursery, they could have been confused with ‘Backeri’ or ‘Hoopsi’ and so you don’t have to deal with the misnaming of varieties. And when you’re grafting it’s really up to you. But the reason I graft is because I enjoy doing it. It’s kind of a niche.”
When he grafts, he’s able to dictate his own numbers and create a hardier plant for his customers.
“Grafting isn’t just the motion of cutting the plant and picking the right scion,” Wayne says. “It’s the aftercare as well. There’s a lot more than you think. It’s not just a numbers game for that day. You’re not going to get anything to take if you don’t go into it with the aspect of ‘This is a living thing. I need to nurture it and really care for it until it gets established.’”
Learn more about Wayne and Columbia Nursery here.
Grafting checklist:
The following materials should be acquired before grafting.
- A good-quality, grafting knife. Should be composed of soft steel that can be sharpened to a fine edge. Razor blades or box cutters work well for tiny, thin scions. Never use a grafting knife for any other purpose than grafting!
- A honing stone for sharpening — an Arkansas oilstone or ceramic stones work well.
- Grafting rubbers — lighter grades for small scions and heavier grades for larger wood.
- Sealants such as sheet parafilm to wrap graft unions or paraffin (candle wax) heated to a liquid state and brushed on the unions. Note: melted wax should be cooled to 140 degrees Fahrenheit before applying.
Source: International Plant Propagators’ Society Proceedings Vol. 56, Richard A. Larson, The Dawes Arboretum
