Cloning an apple tree on the cheap

Rather than pruning and discarding those sucker branches as part of your early spring maintenance, why not use them to propagate some new trees instead.

Cut branches from the top of the tree to use as scion material to graft onto the sucker branches below. In my case, I used scions cut from another apple tree nearby.

Do the grafting around mid February then air-layer the sucker branches around mid July in the same year.

These are the results after a year:












Signs of constriction from the string binding being left on too long.



The constricted areas of the trunks will heal and fill out over time so I am not worried about that. The most important thing is that the grafted joints have fused securely and that each tree is healthy.

Obviously, this is not the first time I have done this but it's the first time I have documented the full process.

So, there you go: cloning an apple tree on the cheap.

Why not give it a go yourself.

 

Traditional tarred jute (fillis) string would solve the problem, if you can find some. It remains weather resistant but should 'give' under increasing load once the tree expands its girth. Test to see if you can break it with 'bare hands' . Jute should break, hemp- not so likely !