Saturday 12 March 2016

Hard Graft.



For several years now, I've decided that we need at least one pukka Chestnut tree of our own. With so many productive trees around us, and with us eating so few Chestnuts annually, this would seem totally unnecessary to most people, as in fact it does to me. But I still think we should have one.

My neighbour José who is a real connoisseur when it comes to all things Chestnut, suggested that I pull a wild sucker from the woods, plant it somewhere in the open, then graft it with a productive variety. Frankly I'd rather just go and buy a tree; I have no confidence in my grafting abilities.

On my walks I often come across trees that have recently been grafted, and most of them have failed. In the picture above, if you look very carefully at the stumps you will see that each had been grafted with three 'scions', and that in both cases only one has taken.

If the pro's can't get it right, then I don't think I stand much of a chance.

However, last year I acquired a few 'Marsol' nuts; this is a variety that doesn't need grafting, and will grow into productive trees simply by sowing the nuts. It's a big early variety, and falls out of it's husk well (very important). I sowed them in pots, and am now waiting to see if they pop-up; otherwise it'll be off to the nursery for a pukka grafted job.

I'd like to try grafting, but I think I'll leave it to others. 

30 comments:

  1. I have here a tangerin (mandarin?) graft that the fruits are so sour, no one can eat it.

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    Replies
    1. Sounds like they put the wrong graft on the tree. Or maybe it was a joke!

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  2. Cue grafters. Me? I never grafted in my life.

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    1. Hugh Graft, Russell Graft, Pres' Ulysses S Graft?

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    2. The grafters are late up because it's a Saturday.

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  3. I think that you're right to have them. Chestnut trees are so French.

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    Replies
    1. It's also nice simply knowing that they're our own.

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  4. Take a spade with you the next time and dig up someone else's tree. Just joking. Grafting is not an easy craft, my father grafted vines but was not always successful, so I imagine chestnut tree grafting to be even more difficult to take.
    Greetings Maria x

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    1. If my sown nuts don't grow, I'll go and buy a Bouche de Betizac tree.

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  5. How long will it be before you get a productive tree from sown nuts?

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  6. This reminds me that I have collected cones from around the world on my travels and I keep them all in a bowl on the table in the sitting room. A year ago I knocked the bowl over and seeds shot out everywhere. I collected them up and the farmer sewed them. About twenty came up and when they were about an inch high he transplanted them in individual pots. They are doing well and are a couple of inches high now, having spent the winter under a cloche to protect them from all the rain. Something for nothing is bliss for the Yorkshireman, so he intends to plant them in his wood eventually.

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    1. Good for you. My late mother was an inveterate collector of cuttings, cones, seed heads, etc. It's the sign of a good gardener.

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  7. I don't think it would be a good idea for me to plant a chestnut, the natives are still dying off... I wish you the best of luck with yours!

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    Replies
    1. We have a nasty disease here which is blamed on the USA. Dying all over the place.

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    2. I wouldn't be surprised, Cro; I am sorry though.

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  8. I have watched it being done and it seems simple enough. But, you can't control mother nature who has the upper hand. I'd just buy a new one.

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    Replies
    1. I'll wait to see if my sown nuts grow, if not I'll buy one.

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  9. Years ago I thought of grafting fruit trees, then decided against it! I look forward to seeing how your Marsol nuts fare.

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  10. I'm hoping that you will show us some photographs of the first appearance of shoots from your Marsol nuts.

    Good luck with this worthy project.

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    1. I will indeed Frances. I look forward to it.

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  11. The other day I met up with a master gardener who proudly announced she'll turn 91 next month. During our cup of tea she talked about rose cuttings and said, "Oh, I just get five or six suckers, lash them together, and stick 'em in the ground under the "Mother" rose. They get watered when she does and I've enjoyed great success over the years." You should see her garden...tea roses, bush roses, trellis roses....I'm sure you could follow the fragrance and find her house. She's a sweet lady. Maybe Mother Nature doesn't have the heart to disappoint her.

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    1. I love the wisdom of 'elderly' gardeners. I know a woman much like yours, and she's a fountain of wise information.

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  12. I use lots and lots of chestnuts. Chestnut soup is absolutely wonderful.

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    1. This is a big Chestnut growing area; very much part of the culture.

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  13. The flowers of both horse and sweet chestnut are exquisite. Good for you Cro in growing one. All too often people are cutting trees down nowadays.

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    1. I'm an inveterate tree planter, as long as they give something back in return. Even last week I planted two more Fig trees and a Peach.

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  14. This sounds exciting. I hope the grafts take and the nuts grow. Please be sure to keep us informed.

    cheers, parsnip

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