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The Art of Grafting: Joining Two Plants Together to Grow as One is Horticultural Magic
If your garden is not big enough for the fruit tree you’d like, this technique may be the answer. It’s handy for healing snapped stems, too.
TL;DR
- Grafting is a horticultural technique that joins two different plants from the same species or genus to grow as one.
- The technique allows the combined plant to benefit from the qualities of both original plants, such as creating a smaller tree with desirable fruit.
- It involves making precise cuts on the scion and rootstock, aligning their cambiums, and binding them until they fuse.
- Grafting is a foundational practice for cultivating many garden plants and trees.
- The principle of grafting can be applied to heal damaged plant stems by splinting and taping them together.
- Artist Sam Van Aken created 'The Tree of 40 Fruit' by grafting 40 different stone fruits onto a single tree.