Advice
T-budding
Fruit trees and roses can be increased by T-budding using commercially available rootstocks. Roses can also be budded onto a briar rootstock.
Plant the rootstocks in autumn about 30cm (12in) apart in a nursery bed.
T-budding should be carried out from mid-summer in cool showery weather. If the weather is dry water the rootstocks for two weeks beforehand.
For the bud wood select strong growing ripened shoots. For roses select a flowered shoot about 30cm (12in) long with three or four growth buds. Remove the foliage and place in a plastic bag to prevent drying out.
Cut away a healthy bud with a strip of bark extending about
2.5cm (1in) above and below the bud.
Carefully pull away the woody material from behind the bud.
| Cut the rootstock just deeply enough to pierce the bark and make a T-shaped incision at a height of 15-30cm (6-12in), with the horizontal cut about 13mm (1/2in) long and the vertical cut 2-4cm (1-11/2in) long. For roses draw back the soil and make the cuts about 2.5cm (1in) below the top growth. |  |
Ease the flaps of the ‘T’ outwards to reveal the cambium layer beneath.
Insert the bud behind the bark flaps with the bud just below the cross-stroke of the T.
Trim away the surplus tail protruding above the T.
Secure the bud using a rubber binding tie or damp raffia around the grafted area.
When the shoot develops the following spring cut off the growth from the rootstock above the bud.