Grafted Plants Explained

Its easy to get yourself totally confused and muddled when immersed in the heady world of
horticulture hybrids, cultivars, cross pollinationthe list of terms goes on and on. But, there is one
horticultural concept that we are hearing a lot more of grafting, and its one that home gardeners
need to get their heads around.
Rather than an act of political deception, grafting in plant terms means physically combining the
desirable properties of two (or more) plants to form one super plant. Confused? Think about it like
this take the legs of your favourite supermodel or actor, and attach to these the torso and head of
someone else (think my head on Angelina Jolies legs!) Its all about the fusion between the lower
half (called the rootstock) and the upper, aerial parts (called the scion).
Grafted plants are becoming far more common in garden centres and nurseries, and there are a
number of reasons for this. These include:
Dwarfing A number of plants sold in nurseries are grafted onto dwarf rootstock (Flying Dragon
citrus and fruit trees being a prime example). This means that the rootstock actually limits the size
of the tree, which is great for gardeners wanting to maximise productivity and plant diversity in
limited spaces or pots. The scion is still productive, with the trees (generally) producing full-size
fruit.
Toughness, hardiness and disease resistance Next time youre in your local SGA Certified
Garden Centre, have a look out for some of the grafted Eremophila nivea they may have on the
benches. This beautiful grey foliaged plant is actually grafted onto rootstock that makes it tougher,
and more tolerant of our clayey soils. This is a fairly common reason for grafting, and a lot of
Western Australian plants that we love in the eastern states are now grafted onto more tolerant
rootstock.
Vigour Some plants that can traditionally be a bit sluggish to get going are grafted onto vigorous,
fast growing rootstock, meaning we dont have to wait so long for our tree/shrub/vine. A classic
example of this is the Nellie Kelly passionfruit range, grafted onto the rootstock of the vigorous Blue
Passionfruit (Passiflora caerulea) to give it more vigour.
Great Grafts How to love your grafted plant
This first key to raising a successful grafted tree should happen in the nursery as selecting a healthy,
well-grafted plant is the key. In most circumstances, you should be able to see the graft union the
point where the rootstock joins the scion. In most cases (Nellie Kelly passionfruit excepted) this graft
is low on the stem of the plant, just above the soil level. This graft should look healthy, show no signs
of desiccation (like sap, scab or sawdust) and feel tough and stable. The top growth should be
healthy, and look for signs of new growth this indicates the graft has worked and the sap is
flowing!
Once you get the plant home, plant it out to the same depth as it was in the pot, taking care NOT to
cover the graft with soil or mulch, as this can lead to graft infection and eventually, failure. While
you care for and love your grafted plant, remember to look at the area BELOW the graft, and
monitor regularly. If you spot any new growth, leaves, shoots etc. forming below the graft union,
remove these at once with sharp secateurs or a knife. Do NOT yank or pull these shoots off, this
only encourages more growth! You may need to repeat this process several times over the first few
years of you plants life, but it is vitally important, as any vegetation growing from below the graft
union is taking valuable resources away from the top part f the plant, and has the potential to take
over.
Remember how we said that rootstock was selected for its vigour? If the rootstock gets away from
you, it can take hold, and you may be left with a bit of a nightmare on your hands. The Nellie Kelly
passionfruit is a great example of this. Left alone and unmonitored, this rootstock WILL take off, and
will eventually take over your entire garden. Blue passionfruit (P. caerulea), the Nellie Kelly
rootstock, is a highly vigorous plant that will sucker and generally wreak havoc in your patchso
you must monitor and keep an eye out for any unwanted growth and remove as soon as you see it.
Multigrafts What they are and how to look after
them
Multigrafts are just that multiple scions (aerial parts) grafted onto a single rootstock. This is most
common in fruiting and productive trees, and is done to increase yield and variety from a small area,
as well as increasing pollination (and thus fruiting). Lets look at some of the multigrafted apple
trees as an example all apple trees require cross pollination with another in order to fruit, however
many of us dont have the space to plant multiple apple trees. This is where multi grafting comes in.
Onto the one rootstock, two or three different but compatible varieties of apple can be grafted,
meaning the rate of pollination increases, and you get more apples.
While fantastic in theory, multigrafts can be a bit of a handful for the untrained gardener. What
tends to happen on multigrafted trees is that one of the grafts is ALWAYS stronger and more
dominant than the rest, meaning it will grow away at a far greater speed and rate than the others.
Essentially, we need to regulate this, and keep the tree under control with pruning. Prune that
dominant graft back so that it is a comparable size to the other scions on the tree. You may find you
are pruning this dominant graft twice as often as the other scions, and that is perfectly okay. If this
is not done, the dominant graft will end up taking over, and the other scions will eventually lose the
will to live!
That aside, with some prudent pruning and rootstock monitoring, grafted and multigrafted trees are
super spacesavers, productive cross pollinators, and allow us to grow plants that we may not
traditionally have been able to do!