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Appletreeman did 30 grafts in the comfort of his own kitchen. He didn’t even have to bend his back, except to reach for the coffee.

So what is grafting? It is the way in which gardeners have propagated their favourite fruit trees for centuries. There are many different ways of grafting, but they all involve joining up of the cambium which lies just under the bark of the twigs.

I used an easy amateur method called side veneer grafting on most of his trees, and also saddle grafting. I used containerised trees so I could relax in the warm. Normally it would be done outside on field grown stock.

The principle is the same with all grafting and budding, that is to match up scion and rootstock as accurately as possible. Just fit one to the other and tie in with a few wraps of polythene. Done in February, and ready to be removed by July. Plant out the following year as a maiden tree.

Budding is a type of graft which uses a tiny bud of your tree which is inserted into a slot on a new rootstock. Usually done in August on trees growing outside.

If you want to graft a tree of your own, or learn a new technique, sign up for one of Appletreeman's grafting courses - more details here on our happenings page.