Grafting 101.4 Follow Up – Aftercare

It’s now late May/Early June and the pear grafts I did for the last post are growing well and preparation needs to be done to protect them from breaking out. If all goes as planned, the grafts will grow quite a bit this year and the graft union usually isn’t strong enough (especially with a bark graft) to support all the growth when the wind blows.

After a Little More Then a Month After Grafting

We had a good take, all the scions are growing. They could grow four to six feet in the first years growth, thats a lot of stress on the union. Some people nail supports to the tree and use twine or green nursery tape (my preference) to secure the new limb to the wood support. Instead of nailing in to the tree I tie the supports to it with twine. Figure which direction you’d like the graft to generally go, with the support (I use bamboo poles, 1″x 2″ wood or metal electrical conduit or tree branches will do) against the trunk and then tied around the tree to secure it, then tie the grafts to the supports, easy.

Tree With Supports

I like to leave the supports for at least a couple of years while the graft union grows and strengthens before removing the supports. Sometimes if, if the growth is strong, the new limbs will set fruit on the second or third year, heavier supports may be necessary for a season or two. Generally after four or five years supports are no longer needed.