Grafting Update. 4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Beauty Plum.  4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Black Ice Plum.  4.7.19

 So far, almost all of the grafts are looking good, have broken dormancy and started to grow.  While some scion wood will grow for a short while even without the graft taking, that is short-lived.  I think we are well on the way.

Interesting observations.  Interesting to me, anyway.

Beauty Plum (From Home Orchard Society), already had flower buds before I picked up the scion at the scion fair.  Even so, and even though they bloomed - weakly - and the petals fell off, the growth points remained viable and are growing.

I could not tell which way was up for the kiwi grafts,  So I did about half one way, and half the other way.  Sure enough, only about half of them are growing.

Whip/Tongue Graft of Male Fuzzy Kiwi.  4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Male Fuzzy Kiwi.  4.7.19

 For Pristine apple, I saved scion from living growth of a failed graft.  Since it was only holding on by a thin strip of bark and cambium, the 1 year growth was very spindly and thin.  I grafted some of those, and some second year growth that was thicker.  Both seem to be taking OK.

Pears and Quinces seem to take off and grow the fastest.

Non-Grafted Bud of Kiwi, Breaking Dormancy.  4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Raja Asian Pear.  4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Pristine Apple.  4.7.19

Whip/Tongue Graft of Pristine Apple.  4.7.19

Apple Tree Made from Root Stock Sucker with Grafted Columnar Apple Scion. 10.1.18

Columnar Apple Tree 10.1.19

This post is a follow up on a columnar apple tree, that I created by grafting a columnar apple tree scion to suckers that arose from a semidwarf apple tree that I removed several years prior.  The suckers were from below the graft, so I knew they were from rootstock.

I think I grafted those in 2015.  Last year, I wanted to move the resulted tree to Battleground.  So I dug out the rootstock, and cut it from the original trunk.  That was last year in October.

This Spring, the tree bloomed.  Since it did not have much root mass, I removed most of the flowers but allowed a couple of apples to ripen.  I also watered it about once a week this summer.

Here is the tree.  It is looking good.  I think it will take off and grow better next year.  There were some additional suckers that I cut off.

The tree when dug from the original location is shown below, from post 10.1.17.

Columnar Apple Tree Grafted onto Rootstock Sucker.  10.1.17

Home Orchard Society Scion Exchange 3.19.17

Today the Portland area Home Orchard Society had a scion exchange / propagation fair event in Clackamas, Oregon. I helped some with the set up yesterday, and again helped a bit with the event today. It was a lot of fun. Lots of people, especially home orchard nerds like me. I brought some handfuls of scion from my own trees - mostly the persimmons - to add to the already massive amounts. Naturally, now I have some more grafting to do, and did that this afternoon. I'll list the scions later.

2017 Home Orchard Society Propagation Fair.  3.19.17

Grafting Projects in Home Orchard. 2.19.17

New Pear Grafts.  2.19.17

Healed plum whip and tongue graft at one year, done in 2015

It seems seems early, but with buds already swelling, I wanted to get some grafting in.  I think I've done it this early in the past, mid to late February.  Most of the scions are refrigerated in plastic bags, and will keep for several more months if needed.  It's OK if the understock tree is already growing, and for some, that is an advantage.

My grafting goals this year:

• Preserve a few varieties from my old trees in Vancouver, so I have them in my new trees in Battleground.

• Make something more useful out some of the scrubby Hawthorn trees, by converting them into Chinese Haw trees.  This is an experiment.

• Add pollen sources to grow internally on some trees.  I've noticed that the tiny pollinating insects tend to go from flower to flower within a tree.  By having pollen sources in the same tree, maybe there will be better fruit set.

 • As usual, I want to add some novel varieties.  Those will be added as I receive scion, especially the apples from Fedco and possibly some from Home Orchard Society.

•  Seedling fruits may start to bear sooner if grafted onto a mature, bearing fruit tree.  That gives a chance to evaluate the seedling variety several years sooner than letting it mature on its own roots.

• By creating multigraft trees, I have more varieties in less space than I would if they were all on their own rootstocks.  You get pollenizing  varieties for better fruit set, and potentially widely spaced ripening times so that instead of bushels of one apple type all at once, you can pick various types from July to November.

• Taking scion from your own trees, they are free.  Buying scion is usually much, much cheaper than buying trees.  Scion from scion exchanges is also free.

Healed apple whip and tongue graft at 6 months, done in 2014.

Grafts so far.  All of them are whip and tongue.

1.  This week, I grafted pear varieties, I think Anjou and Bartlett, from the old multigraft.  Whatever they are, they are good pears, delicious, proven in this area.  I added both to both of the new pears in my Battleground yard, Rescue and Orcas.

2.  I have a tiny Honeycrisp apple on M27, which is way to dwarfing for that variety.  After maybe 10 years it is still only 2 feet tall and gets one or two apples a year.  I took scion from that "tree" and grafted onto a more vigorous Winecrisp apple tree, one year old on a more vigorous semidwarf rootstock.

3.  I grafted two variegated burgundy on green plum seedlings, from plums that I bought in 2015, onto 2 of the younger plum trees - Toka (onto a rootstock sucker) and Ember.  I grafted one onto the Sweet Treat Pluerry.  I also grafted an American plum seedling onto Ember plum, to see if that would pollenize that tree.   I also grafted some variegated plum seedling onto a higher branch on Methley plum tree.

4.  I grafted several Chinese Haw scions onto suckers or younger trees in the Douglas Hawthorn woodlot.  I hope they take and make those into something productive, and maybe also not grow so top heavy and fall over like the original trees have been doing.  Both are in the Hawthorn genus, Crataegus, so I imagine they will take.

5.  To the Maxie hybrid Asian-American pear, I added Hamese and Hosui.  Last year I added Rescue and unknown Asian Pear from the Battleground yard.   I may convert that Rescue branch into something else, such as Shinseiki or Nijiseiki.  I don't need a bushel of one variety of Asian pear to ripen all at once, and it's nice to have multiple types ripening at potentially different times.

5.  Pending:  3 apple varieties from Fedco, and if I am luck some persimmons from Home Orchard Society.  I have more apple varieties now than I need, so for the most part I'm not planning to add more.  If I'm up to it, I  might make more use of some of the Hawthorne seedlings / suckers as experiments.  Hawthorn appears to be closely-enough related to pears that some pears can be grafted onto some hawthorn rootstock.  Some do better than others.

Home Orchard Plans for 2016. 10.27.15

Raining today. 

Thinking about next year.  Replace some trees that died, and plan for a couple that might, and replace a couple of non-
performers.

Esopus Spitzenburg Apple

Deaths:  
North Star Cherry.  2 years old.  Apparently voles.  There is no bark on the roots.
Big Asian Plum.  From the size and rings, at least 10 years old.  Apparently mining insects.  There were tunnels under the bark.

Non-performers.
Honeycrisp on M27.  Karmijn on M27.  I think this rootstock is way to limiting, and the trees can't grow worth squat.  These are planted near each other, and can be replaced by one larger tree.  I can use the Honeycrisp for scion.
Indian Blood Peach.  Maybe 8 years, only 4 foot tall, no fruit set, ever.

Opportunities.
I have 3 Hollywood Plum trees in containers, and one in-ground, started 2 years ago.  The container trees are larger due to TLC.
I have 1 Ember Plum, 8 foot tall whip, grafted onto Hollywood rootstock early 2015. 
I have potential scion sources, existing Toka plum, Hanska grafted onto on unidentified plum tree, Honeycrisp and Liberty apples on M27.
I have an unidentified plum grown as accidental cutting from the tree that died.  It's a good plum, large, meaty dark purple flesh.

Concerns.
Toka Plum.  Bark on trunk is highly damaged.  I don't know, by what.  I want to preserve the variety.  Use scion from existing tree,  on Hollywood Plum rootstock.

Montmorency Cherry

Plan.  Subject to change at any whim.

1.  Make a new Toka Plum, grafting from existing tree onto Hollywood Plum rootstock. 

2.   Move the unidentified plum cutting to a better location.  Maybe were the North Star Cherry died.

3.  Remove Indian Free Peach.  Replace with Surefire Cherry, new tree.

4.  Remove small Hollywood plum.  That one needs more TLC, transfer to container.  Replace with Ember on Hollywood rootstock.  I can  do that this fall.

5.  Make a Hanska Plum on Hollywood rootstock.  Grow in container to give it TLC until it is a good size.

6.  Buy scion for another plum variety - Superior?  Graft onto the 3rd Hollywood rootstock and give it TLC.

7.  Replace the M27 trees with Nadia Cherry / Plum hybrid.

8.  Try whip / tongue grafting to top work remaining branches of Almaden Duke cherry with Ranier and Lapin sweet cherries.  The T-budding didn't work so well.  A couple might have taken.  This tree has 2 rootstock suckers.  Maybe I should graft onto those, and cut down the original tree.

9.  I have the first apple that I grafted, but mixed the labels.  It is either Sutton's Best or Esopus Spitzenberg.  Either way, I can give that a try.  There is a second graft on that one, again mixed up.  Either Liberty or Jonagold.  I might graft onto that tree, a 3rd and 4th variety.  I can use the Honeycrisp, and might use scion from Fedco for another.

Hanska Plum

10.  I have rootstock, semidwarf but unsure which.  I can graft onto that and keep it in container for TLC.  Options, Pristine, which is early and very good, or something new from Fedco. 

11.  I think I will buy Sweet 16 from Burnt Ridge.   If so, it will need a location. 

12.  Oregon Curl Free Peach might also not make it.  The Peach Leaf Curl didn't kill it.  Canker might.  If so, I think this will be a good spot for a plum.  If  Toka doesn't make it, that will also be a spot for one of the new grafts getting TLC.

That seems like a lot.  I could easily use up the entire 2 acres, but I can't take care of that many.  This year I was not able to water enough, which might have contributed to a couple of deaths and some of the non-thriving trees.  Definitely Montmorency cherry and Saijo persimmon were stressed, but they look like they will make it.  The multigraft apples on the other side of the road, had very little watering but lived.  They are still young.  One is Chehalis + Akane + Jonagold + Summerred + Fuji, the other is the one described about with 2 semi-unknowns.

There is also a Jonagold on M27 in a flower border that contains 3 young columnar trees.  I think that will come out, and a new columnar that I grafted last year will replace it.

All images on this page are public domain, via U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705.  They either illustrate varieties I have, or might obtain, or I used as general illustration for that species.  Illustrations are late 19th and early  20th centuries.

Apple progress note. 4.9.15

Prairie Fire Crabapple.  4.9.15

 Most of the apples are blooming.  The Prairie Fire Crabapple that I bought as a pollen source for other apples, is in full bloom.  Using the paintbrush to remove pollen from flowers, there is generous pale yellow pollen, plenty for all of the other trees.

Of the little columnar trees, Golden Sentinel has 2 flower clusters and Red Sentinel has about 6.  Not a lot of apples.  I should prevent them from fruiting so they get more growth, but I like getting a taste.  Karmijn is in full bloom.  The Jonagold, grafted last year onto M27 is 3 feet tall and covered with flowers.  I may want to keep that as a single cordon, looks nice.  Honeycrisp on M27 is blooming.  Honeycrisp is too slow growing for such a non-vigorous, mini-dwarfing rootstock.    I have a more vigorous rootstock start for next grafting year.

Of others, the 3-graft on M106 is blooming nicely.  Pristine is first, and most.  Rubinette is 2nd, then Queen Cox.   With the more vigorous rootstock, these have potential for a lot more fruit in later years.

In the Vancouver yard, North Pole has only 3 flower clusters.  Either due to overbearing last year, or over-pruning of spurs on my part, or both.  Liberty is in full bloom.  Liberty is in lavish full bloom, as is Jonagold.  Both are on M27.  Jonagold is about 8 foot tall, Liberty maxed out at 5 foot tall.


Jonagold 1 year after graft, M27.  4.9.15

 I played the honeybee and transferred pollen from Liberty to Jonagold and North Pole.  I used the meager 3 flowers on North Pole as suppliers of pollen for Liberty.  There may be neighborhood apple trees that I don't know about, to provide more.


Golden Sentinel Bloom.  4.9.15

 Of the apple grafts, in early March I top-grafted from a yellow columnar apple, onto the grafts I made last year from North Pole.  Both have started growing.   One in a container, which had only a tiny tuft of roots, is growing nicely.  The plan for these is a columnar tree with red apples on the lower couple of feet, yellow on the next couple of feet, then another type of red.  The trees would be self pollinating and colorful.


Karmijn on M27.  4.9.15

 The graft from Fedco, of Redfield, onto a home grown M27 rootstock, is starting to grow.  I kept these grafts inside for the past few days to see if I could speed them up.

The neighbor apple graft hasn't started to grow yet.  It is at Battleground.  I moved it into the sunroom.

Jonared at one year old does not have flowers yet.  This is described as dwarf, but the rootstock is not listed.  Given the number of grafts I added from Fedco, I expect at most a bowl or two of apples of each type, in a few years.  That's if the grafts take.  Currently they look unchanged, no sprouting but not dried out.

Liberty on M27.  4.9.15

Yellow Columnar Apple graft on red columnar.  4.9.15

Even More Grafting. 3.21.15

Fedco Scion Wood.  3.21.15

Jonared Apple with 5 other varieties now grafted.  3.21.15

I did the rest of the grafting at the Battleground place. 

Most of the scion looked good to me.  One - South Dakota - looked dead and a little mildewed, so I did not try.  One was a hybrid of McIntosh, which I did not want, so I did not try that one either.  Thought went into each choice.  No reason to grow one that I didn't choose, no idea about disease resistance, flavor, or other characteristics.

Jonared now has grafts of 5 varieties - Priscilla, Granite Beauty, Keepsake, Redfield, Porter. 

The unknown plum now has grafts of Ember, La Crescent, and Hanska.   There are 2 each of La Crescent and Hanska, making 2 4-inch scion from each 8-inch.  That plum already has grafts from Hollywood, Shiro, apricot seedling, and possibly, Toka.

 I also used left over 4-inch scion from the grafts made earlier from Ember and the Redfield apple.

Some sources list Hanska as a Plumcot.  Makes sense given its ancestry.  It might be a better choice than California - bred Pluots, which are also plum / apricot hybrids.

My prior listing and description of these apples and plums is here.

This time I did the initial wrap with polyethylene tape.  Then I thought, maybe that doesn't seal well enough, so over-wrapped with parafilm.

I also discovered that I can keep a jar candle burning, and dip the top end of each scion in melted candle wax, before grafting.  That seals them without the problem of potentially dislodging the graft while over-wrapping with parafilm.  It's also easily available, does not have to be specially bought.  I dipped a couple of times, each quickly, for a good seal.

More Grafting. 3.21.15

Image of Ember Plum from Starks.

Ember Plum Scion.  3.21.15

 More grafting.  The plum rootstock is Hollywood Plum grown from cuttings last year.  Hollywood is a hybrid of Prunus cerasifera, which I think makes it a variation of Myrobalan which is used for rootstocks.  I didn't know what to do with the plum saplings so no waste if it doesn't take.

Ember Plum is one of the scions from Fedco, arrived Thursday.  I kept in fridge in plastic with wet paper towel, just 2 days.  The scion looks healthy.

Some photos were too blurry to use.  I did whip and tongue, but the photo that showed the whip and tongue together was too blurry.

Wrapped in Parafilm.  It's more awkward than polyethylene, still not sure what I think about using parafilm.  At the top of the scion, I melted the parafilm using a match.

I don't know if I have the finesse to do whip/tongue on plums which are more delicate than apple and pear.   If it doesn't take, it's my fault, not the scion which looks healthy and viable.

The rootstock Hollywood plum has grown about 1 to 2 inches of new growth, with healthy leaves.  I don't know how that will affect take of graft.  Impression is it is OK for rootstock to be growing, but scion needs to be dormant.

Matching size of scion and stock.  3.21.15

Diagonal cuts.  3.21.15

Fedco gives description of Ember as "(Prunus salicina Shiro x P. americana South Dakota #33) U Minn, 1936. Medium-sized roundish-conic slightly pointed mostly red-blushed fruit with a medium bloom. Rich yellow juicy sweet flesh is very firm and meaty but tender. Recommended for cooking and fresh eating. Tastes and looks like an apricot."  Since I have so much trouble growing apricots, maybe this will work better.  Stark's image of Ember does not look like apricot to me.

Final Graft.  3.21.15

Redfield Apple Scion.  3.21.15

Redfield Whip and Tongue.  3.21.15

 The Redfield apple is a red-leaf variety that is red and white inside the apple.  The young wood inside the scion is also colored with streaks of red.  The flowers are pink and the leaves appear to have reddish color as well.  Japanese link.

orangepippin.com gives Redfield as "Parentage: Wolf River x malus pumila niedzwetzkyana Originates from: United States Introduced: 1938 Developed by: New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, NY " and states not for fresh eating, juice is red.  Might be good for apple sauce and pies.  Other sites state Redfield is good for cider and jelly.

This went onto a scion that I forgot to label, has good roots and starting to grow at the top.

I think this rootstock was from the old Yellow Delicious semidwarf but could have been a minidwarf from removal of prior suckers from Jonagold.  Either is OK.  A little better scion/stock match compared to the last grafting attempt.

I wasn't sure if the parafilm was tight enough, so added rubber band.  Obviously I'm still no expert.

Final Redfield Apple Graft.  3.21.15

Plum bud grafts. Progress Report. 7.13.14

Prunus cerasifolia bud graft on unknown Asian plum.  6 weeks.  7.12.14

 I didn't expect the bud grafts to take off and grow this year.  At best, I hoped they would take, meld with the understock tree, and grow next year.

The Prunus cerasifolia bud graft, grafted as an afterthought and onto a less promising looking small branch, had grown the fastest.  At this point, one can only conclude it is fully melded with the tissues of the understock tree and is a solid graft.  I don't know how much growth to expect.  It would be nice to have bloom next year.  If not, it will be well on its way for the following season.

The Shiro bud grafts did not take off as fast, but two of the 3 have broken dormancy and are growing now.  Again, the most I hope for is to become established and grow next year, for bloom the following year.  I don't mind playing the bee and pollinating next Spring but at some point I want the trees to be self-sufficient in their pollination.

The 3-week buds are varied.  Some look like they have taken, and some I am not so sure of.  The photo is Hollywood plum at 3 weeks.  Again, the bud has broken dormancy and is growing nicely.

I expect that grafts in August will be less likely to break dormancy.  I might graft peaches and graft a plum or two onto some of the plum cuttings from last winter.

Asian Plum "Shiro" bud grafts on unknown Asian plum.  6 weeks.

Hollywood Asian plum on unknown Asian plum.  Bud graft at 3 weeks.  7.12.14

 I really didn't know this would be so easy.  I can't believe I can do this.

Sunroom. Budding. 6.17.14

Homework day.

Not bad.  The sunroom makes for a more tolerable time.  The tile floor warms up nicely, even on cloudy day.  Under the floor, is 6 inches of insulation, so it should be warm in winter, too.

I did take an hour break for garden project.  I grafted new buds from Shiro and Hollywood plums, onto the existing plum trees.  I imagine if they take, it will be 2016 when they first bloom and bear.  That will help with pollination, so I don't have to run form tree to tree with a little paintbrush.

I used Hollywood and Shiro because those are what I have.  I think they are good choices - easy to see the burgundy leaves of Hollywoodo, so I easily know those are grafted, and easy to identify which plums are the small bright yellow plums of Shiro, and burgundy of Hollywood, for harvesting.

It rained Sunday and Monday.  Today drizzled.  So the tree tissues were moist, the bark slipped easily, and the grafts were not too difficult for a novice.  I don't know if they will take and grow.  If not, there is July and August budding as well, and now I have more practice.

Bud Grafting. Progress Report. 6.15.14

Shiro plum, bud grafted onto unknown plum variety.  2 weeks after budding.  6.15.14tao

 I think several, if not all, of the bud grafts have taken.  From what I read, if the entire graft turns brown, that's a sign it did not take  It is normal for a petiole (leaf stem) to turn yellow and fall off, when a leaf is cut.  So if the graft takes, that happens with the bud graft too.  Some have fallen off.  This one shows the abscission layer nicely, with hyellow petiole and proximal to the graft, nice green bud wood and bark.  This one is in the shade, so less likely to dry out.  As I recall, I can wait a week or two before removing tape.

I may do some more bud grafting.  Some of the new wood still looks pretty green, might be better to wait for it to mature a bit more.

A little more on the grafts. And the apple trees are taking hold. 5.10.14

Triple  Variety Apple graft.  5.10.14

New Liberty graft on Honeycrisp. 5.10.14

Liberty Graft on Honeycrisp.  5.10.14

 Puttering around the apple trees in my little orchard.  The trees are all caged now.  Deer have been marauding and destroying everything that meets their fancy.  Fortunately I planned for them with the apples.

The tree cages are a hassle and cost money, but have some advantages.  The triple-variety graft is in a tree cage and I use the cage as a training tool to spread out the branches.  They'll need to be tied that way for a year.

The grafts are growing like gangbusters.  The Liberty graft on the little Honeycrisp tree has nice growth despite having had a bloom.  I removed the grafting wrap to avoid girdling the limb.  When the branch takes off and grows, it should be about equal to the Honeycrisp branch, and one can pollinate the other.

I looked and looked and looked to find patent info on Liberty.  I could not find any, so I think this was a legal graft.  Honeycrisp patent has run out.

The Jonared has good growth.  I need to get more fencing so the little branches don't reach past the circle and get eaten by deer.  The posts are in place.

Close up of whip-and-tongue of Jonagold tree start, made using sucker from rootstock and Jonagold from the scion.

Jonared.  5.10.14

Grafting democratizes gardening.  All you need is the rootstock, which can be a sucker from an existing tree; and the scion, which can be from a neighbor or relative.  The stock can also be a young tree that the gardener wants to add other varieties too.  It isn't hard.  I feel so accomplished, grafting these trees, even though millions of trees are made in nurseries, rapidly, by the same method.

Grafting also allows the gardener to build their own multiple variety tree, using proven local varieties, treasured varieties from the old homestead, and making for a self pollinating, and therefore more productive, tree.  It means you don't need 4 trees to get 4 varieties.

Whip and Tongue Apple Tree Start.  5.10.14

Grafts. 4.9.14

Asian Pear Graft.  Starting to grow.

The Asian Pear grafts are starting to grow.

If I was smarter, I would not have used potentially blooming scion.  The flower buds sap more energy via the developing joined vascular system, and the leaf buds lag behind.  The scions that do not have flower buds are leafing out.

Creating a Bouquet Lilac Bush. 3.2.14

Three of the freshly grafted lilacs.

First steps of Bouguet Lilac.   First graft onto original sucker.

Bouguet Lilac.  Fall of 1st year & Spring of year 2.

 Here is my thought about how to develop a Bouquet lilac.

Step 1.  Spring of year 1.  Graft first new variety onto suckers of a parent lilac bush.  Leave in place at least first Spring and Summer, so the new plant can draw nutrients from the parent bush.

Step 2.  Fall of year 1.  The connecting stolon can be severed and the new little bush planted in a garden bed.

Step 3.  Spring of year 2.  Lilacs have buds in pairs.  Assuming the first 2 pairs of buds made adequate stems, graft new varieties on to each of the new stems.  Graft them above the first 2 pairs of buds, which will be allowed to grow.

If a bud or 2 grew from the rootstock, which itself is a nice lilac, then allow that to grow as well.  At this point, if all grafts take and all varieties grow, there would be 4 varieties.

Step 4.  Spring of year 3.  Additional varieties can be grafted.  I depicted grafts onto the new grafts from Step 3.  It depends on whether the grafts take, and which is the most vigorous. 

I think, if the new shrub produces suckers, those would need to be removed.  If not, the original rootstock variety may take over with more vigor, and overtake the grafted varieties.

I don't know if this will work.  It will be an interesting project to work on.  It takes a certain amount of confidence in the future, to plan a 3-year grafting project.  Then again, so does growing almost any tree or shrub.

This also assumes that my grafts take.  I've read that lilacs can be grafted.  I don't know if my technique will be good enough.

Bouquet Lilac.  Spring of year #3

The big lilac bush is an "OK" variety.  Not very fragrant, and not as lavish as some.  It must be pretty rugged, to have survived here and grown as large as it is.

Grafting Apple and Lilacs. 3.1.14

Grafting supplies, rootstock, and scion wood.

 Today I did some more grafting.

First, I identified a sucker growing from below the graft of a dwarf apple tree.  The tree is a nonpatented Jonagold.  The rootstock is nonlabeled.

I carefully removed soil between the sucker and the original tree.  Then I used pruning shears to cut through the sucker base between the stem and the tree, close to the tree.

This rootstock was the result.  The original stem was about 3 feet.  I pruned it back to about 1 foot before cutting for the whip and tongue graft.

This method is much easier for me now.  It just took practice, a very sharp knife, and learning how to brace myself and cut carefully and mindfully to avoid slips and lacerations.

Whip and Tongue Graft.

 This side looks good.  The other side was not as good.  I've done a number of grafts where only one side matched up, and they worked fine.

I make sure to place the prepared scion in water until I've cut the rootstock.  I also get that wet.  My thought is it will slide together better with water as lubricant, and there won't be dry surfaces that might impede joining together.

There was a 2nd stem, a little branch.  I cut that off.   That wound is also covered to avoid dehydration, until healing begins.

Wrapped with polyethylene tape.  The wrap goes from bottom to top with generous overlap each wrap around.  That way rain water drains outside instead of trailing into the wrapping.

I did not cut the top off this time.  I don't know if lower buds are viable.  That might result in the graft not taking. 

Graft wrapped in polyethylene tape.

 The 2nd to last photo shows the well-rooted rootstock.  The cut is large.  I don't think that will matter.  It should heal over.

I potted the new little tree in potting soil, in a one gallon pot.  I plan to return it home, and keep on the deck with TLC care for the first year.

I also grafted lilacs.  At the battleground place is a large, very old lilac bush with many suckers.  I expect the suckers have viable roots.  Instead of removing them from the mother bush, I grafted with them in place.  If they take, I can dig them out in the fall.

Scion wood was obtained from 2 non-suckering varieties at the Vancouver house.  They are un-named varieties.  If the grafts take, there are some choices about what I do with the result.  I could keep them as single-stem tree-like shrubs.   I could plant deeply, so that the scion will form its own roots, then later cut off the original rootstock.

Rootstock with roots.

Completed graft.

I could consider these a multi-year project.  The first year, allow 2 stems to grow from scion.  The 2nd year, graft again, leaving one or two nodes to grow out below the 2nd level of scion.  At that point, it could be a 3-variety shrub.  Repeating a 3rd year, could make for a multi-variety shrub with 6 or more varieties.  Sort of a bouquet tree.  That will be interesting.  The first step is see if the first grafts take.

The lilacs clearly have viable buds low on the scion, so I did cut them back to one node, containing 2 buds.  Then sealed the cut tips with tree-kote.