Grafting Technique #4: Summer Grafting (Budding)

Enjoy new grafting skills

“Budding” is the only grafting technique done in summer, and is a cheap and easy way to get the most out of the fruit trees you already have in your garden. You’ll quickly increase the amount of fruit you grow without having to buy a new tree.

Summer grafting – also called budding – can be used to convert an existing tree to a new variety, fix pollination problems, create a multigraft or fruit salad tree, fix a grafted tree that has died back to the rootstock, or convert a seedling that has come up in the compost pile to a known variety.

This course includes two different variations of the technique, T-budding, and Chip Budding. They’re even easier than the winter grafting techniques because the grafting wood is collected on the same day, so no storage is needed. However, some planning is still required.

After completing this course you’ll understand how to do both techniques and when is the best time to use each one. You’ll also have a plan in place to select and prepare fruit trees for budding months in advance to improve your chances of success.

We’d like to thank master grafter Merv Carr (Katie’s dad) for demonstrating the Chip Budding technique in Unit 6.

What’s included in this course: 

• Unit 1: Summer grafting: T-budding (article)
• Unit 2: Summer grafting: T-budding (video)
• Unit 3: Plan your budding this summer (activity)
• Unit 4: Practice summer budding (activity)
• Unit 5: Chip budding: a summer grafting technique (article)
• Unit 6: Chip budding: a summer grafting technique (video)