I have to learn to say no

[markyscott]

Before I left Houston, someone asked me if I wanted to take this pine. It was originally from Brussels - purchased at a Rendezvous many years earlier. It was disheartening- let go for years, the branches had grown long and leggy. I think it was never wired, never decandled, and no fall maintenance. The original trunk line was nice, but it was going to be a total do-over. Not a single branch could be kept - all had grown several feet beyond the trunk. My instincts said no. I should have said no. But I thought it was a good opportunity to practice my trunk grafting - something I’ve not been too successful with. So into the truck it went and now it sits on my bench in Virginia.



this is today - it has been cut back several times since I received it.

 

[markyscott]

What I wanted to share was the trunk grafting technique I used - perhaps it will be helpful for someone else. Typically, I’ve done a cleft graft - I cut a scion and, with a chisel, cut a flap into the understock. Then I attempt to line up the cambium of the scion with the cambium of the understock. This is not difficult when the thickness of the scion and the thickness of the understock is the same, but grafting a small shoot onto the trunk is a trick - the bark of the trunk is much thicker and it is easy to get misaligned. Misalignment means a graft failure.

 

[markyscott]

This is the trunk line I want to keep - everything else goes.

 

[markyscott]

My success rate grafting onto the trunk is pretty low. Maybe 10% success. In this case, however, every single trunk graft took save one. I did six simple approach grafts, bending the branches back to the trunk line. It was the very fact that the branches had grown so leggy that afforded me the opportunity to use this technique. All the grafts took in a single growing season. I’ve detached one already, but I’m 100% confident that the rest can be removed already. Here are some examples:

 

[markyscott]

You can see where the wires I’ve applied to girdle the branch and wean the scion from the rootstock have done their job. I’m sure that these grafts can be detached from their original branch. I plan on executing several more grafts next spring. Once those take, I can start branch building from the grafts and weaning the tree from the old, leggy growth. Just wanted to share how successful you can be with approach grafts on a JBP. Much higher success rate than cleft grafting. We’ll see how these heal, but I anticipate, given how thick the bark grows on JBP, that the graft union will be pretty invisible in 5-10 years.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Before I left Houston, someone asked me if I wanted to take this pine. It was originally from Brussels - purchased at a Rendezvous many years earlier. It was disheartening- let go for years, the branches had grown long and leggy. I think it was never wired, never decandled, and no fall maintenance. The original trunk line was nice, but it was going to be a total do-over. Not a single branch could be kept - all had grown several feet beyond the trunk. My instincts said no. I should have said no. But I thought it was a good opportunity to practice my trunk grafting - something I’ve not been too successful with. So into the truck it went and now it sits on my bench in Virginia.

View attachment 614980

this is today - it has been cut back several times since I received it.

This appears as a Yamadori was my first thought. If you didn't want to waste your time on the poor misbegotten thing I would offer to take it off your hands if you were nearby. My condolences on your misfortune.

 

[Maiden69]

Nicely done Scott, one thing I would keep in mind is the ability of JBP to grow over the wire and fuse with no ill effect on the tree. So careful that the tree don't bridge over and continue relying on the energy given by the branch and not the graft. My pines are close to the same situation this one was, as I have not been able to keep up with them for the last few years, mostly because of moving into an apartment, then back into a house. I plan on doing some fall cleanup soon, then hopefully keep up with them afterwards.

 

[markyscott]

Nicely done Scott, one thing I would keep in mind is the ability of JBP to grow over the wire and fuse with no ill effect on the tree. So careful that the tree don't bridge over and continue relying on the energy given by the branch and not the graft. My pines are close to the same situation this one was, as I have not been able to keep up with them for the last few years, mostly because of moving into an apartment, then back into a house. I plan on doing some fall cleanup soon, then hopefully keep up with them afterwards.

Good reminder! I don’t think they’ll get the chance though. I’ll likely cut the branch in spring.

- S

 

[markyscott]

This appears as a Yamadori was my first thought. If you didn't want to waste your time on the poor misbegotten thing I would offer to take it off your hands if you were nearby. My condolences on your misfortune.

So many restoration projects..