Grafting A Sentinental Gingko Tree. 28 Mar 24.

Thirty years ago, I planted some gingko seeds that my Dad had collected.  He died about ten years ago.   One of the trees stands grandly, maybe feet tall, in my old back yard in Vancouver.   It's a male, so no stinky seed pods.  Just majesty.   The other, much smaller, is in my front yard now in Battle Ground.

I wanted to preserve the beautiful tree in Vancouver.  Obviously it's way too big to think about moving.  Maybe ten years ago, I grafted some scion from that tree onto seedlings that I grew, from seeds I collected in Vancouver.   One didn't take, and one did.  The one that took, doesn't grow vertically.  It grows flat horizontally, no matter how often I try to straighten it.

I don't know why it does that.  It's weird.  Could it be that I grafted it upside down?  Would that take?  Would it grow like that?  Or is it some kind of weird bud sport?

Last fall, I  collected some scion from this tree.  There are several suckers growing from under the ground.  The plan was to graft freshly onto some of those suckers.  If one takes, and if it grows vertically, I can cut the others off and let it take over.

I decided to use my favorite graft, a whip and tongue graft.  I used a single edge razor blade for cutting, and a piece of wood as a cutting board.  I don't recommend this, for safety reasons, but it is what I did.

First, here's how it looks when out together.

Here's how the cutting looks, slicing into the wood to make the tongue.  This is before putting it together as above.

Here's how I protect myself.   The glove is a mandolin glove.

While grafting last year, I sliced into my thumb.  That's why I don't recommend this.  Buy a specialized, safe, tool instead.  It's better than a potentially serious i jury, such as a sliced tendon or nerve, or lost finger.  I was not wearing a glove last year when this happened.

Wood resists cutting, then has a "give" point where it rapidly decompensates.  Thats where my injury happened.  It cut a nerve, and took a year to resume about 90% normal sensation on the back of my thumb.

All I can say is that today I was extra extra careful.  I think the mandolin glove helped avoid an injury, and as much as possible I cut towards the cutting board, away from me.

It will be fun if one of the three that I did today grows.  If none take, I'll  cut the tree back to one sucker and let that take over as a straight upright tree.