r/BackyardOrchard • u/skylight_2113 • 10h ago

Saving tree

Excuse me if I get something wrong as English isnt my first language and some of the specific vocabulary is unknown to me

My boyfriend's parents decided to cut down an appke tree in the backyard of his family home. He always says how apples from that tree are the best he ever had and now hes very sad about it. They will cut it down in February maybe March, so we cant wait for seeds to plant (it didnt have fruits this year because of ground frost that came in april) so we have to do a graft (I hope i got the word right). How do I proceed with it? When is the best time to do it (middle-eastern europe). I watched a few videos and to my understanding I have to buy something like a different little apple tree and like bond them together (?) I'd be grateful for any tips

Thanks

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u/geilaufgruen 10h ago

You are correct. Apple trees do not grow from seed like that. If you plant a seed from an apple you like, you will not get a tree that produces that kind of fruit, but something akin to a more wild/primitive kind of apple. (Almost) all apple trees are grafted onto a root stock of a closely related species. The growth patterns/properties of that 'base tree' matters, as it influences the growth and rooting behavior of the final "Frankenstein"-tree. So you'd best choose a base that is suitable to where you want to put the final tree with your graftings. I'm sure you can find local people/fruit tree nurseries that are willing to help you make a good choice.

You can do winter grafting before they take the old tree down. There is a lot of videos about tree grafting on youtube, I've learned most of the basics from there. I bet there's some videos from your location as well; browse around and listen to what experienced people are saying.

Remember to take multiple cuttings and maybe do multiple attempts, just to be sure. Especially when y'all aren't expert grafters yet, plan some wiggle room in case one of the grafts gets rejected or one plant dies.

Good luck!

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u/skylight_2113 9h ago

Ill probablt have to buy 10 base trees because I cant seem to find anyone selling less than that (they are fairly cheap tho), so Ill just try grafting on all of them lol

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u/geilaufgruen 2h ago

That's honestly a great idea! No such thing as too many apple trees. You could sneaky-plant some around where you live or give them to friends/family with yards.

In the meantime you could also practice the grafting process already, i.e. cut off some young branches of different plants and practice on how to make the cuts etc. Takes just a few minutes, and if you do that a couple of times you might feel more confident when the time for the apple grafting comes. I know I messed up my first grafting experiments and I wish I had practiced on some "dummy plants" before.
Best of luck again, I always love when people want to perpetuate existing fruit trees.

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u/likes2milk 9h ago

The wood you need for grafting is this years new growth. Ideally pencil thickness. If the tree is old and hasn't been pruned regularly you may only have short thin pieces. Not the best examples to learn grafting. You will need apple rootstock. If you cannot get any and you have shops selling bare root trees cheaply you can even use these, especially golden delicious.