Some readers know how much I like Mother and Father Nature.
Sometimes, though, Mother and Father Nature need a little help, help which comes in the form of grafting.
Grafting is when one plant is "fused" to another plant and is often used in commercial agriculture and horticulture. Many of you might have seen cactus grafts in your local grocery store where a bright red cactus "top" is grafted to a green "bottom."
The bottom section is called the "stock" or "rootstock" and is usually chosen because its root system is better adapted to certain soils in an area. The top section is called the "scion" (no, not the car) and is usually chosen because of its flowers or fruit, but sometimes because of the inherent beauty of the stems and leaves.
At a recent visit to the new Elephant Odyssey exhibit at the San Diego Zoo -- the Zoo is also an internationally acclaimed arboretum -- I saw the following grafted tree which illustrates in beautiful detail the difference between the stock and the scion.
11 Comments on Russel's Gardening Handbook: Grafting
MAY
31
2009
Hi Russel - What a tree! I've grafted, but never had a result with such a defined and squared-off break. Somehow it seems like that might make for a weak joint. I've only grafted a side limb onto a main trunk by opening a downward slice in the trunk and taping the new branch into it until it grows together.
I have never seen or heard of anything like this. Wow now that's different. How in the world do they do that with a live tree? Thanks for the lesson of the day!
What??? Are you serious? That can't be real. Don't I see some paint on the top portion, like someone did a messy painting job? The backdrop is definitely fake. Are you just pulling our collective leg?
Hey, Susan - I've done lots of grafting in my time, too, but never something as unique as this tree grafting.
Hey, An - Great shots are something that the Zoo offers on a regular basis. Did you see my meerkats shots?
Hey, Bob and Carolin - I actually suspect that this was probably an experiment by some Zoo gardener employees. The Elephant Odyssey is brand new, but many of the trees are huge, like this one. I suspect when the graft between these two trees actually took, they didn't know what to do with it and just saved it for many years. Now it has a prominent place at the Zoo for all to see. Unfortunately, there was nothing telling us the species of the two trees, and I couldn't identify them based on taking a picture. My time frame at the Zoo that day did not allow me the pleasure of contemplating too much.
Hey, Chanda - Working with tree grafts takes a little longer than with cactus. Generally, the larger the branch/trunk, the longer it will take to get the graft to take.
Hey, Lisa - The back wall is stucco because there is an animal enclosure behind it. The "messy paint job" is tree paint, which prevents infection, drying out, infestation, etc.
I've heard of grafting -- half my roses are grafted -- but I've never seen a tree like that. Do you know what kinds of trees those are? the stock? or the scion? And why they cose those two to graft? At the very least it is an amazing demonstration of the art of grafting.
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Some readers know how much I like Mother and Father Nature.
;)
;)
Hi Russel - What a tree! I've grafted, but never had a result with such a defined and squared-off break. Somehow it seems like that might make for a weak joint. I've only grafted a side limb onto a main trunk by opening a downward slice in the trunk and taping the new branch into it until it grows together.