Growing Apple Trees – Easy And Fun
Looking to plant a few apple trees in the yard or to create your own orchard? Growing and creating your own trees is much more satisfying and rewarding, not mentioning it will save you money. By purchasing root stock and cutting first year branches (Scions) off a existing apple tree you can grown the exact genetic tree. Yes, a clone of the tree you cut your branches from.
By purchasing Apple Root Stock you can grow the exact clone in a standard, dwarf, or semi-dwarf tree and choose the root stock that will grow the best in your region, with disease resistance designed in. Yes, you can grown a tree that is as good or better then those you can buy in your local nursery.
When To Purchase Root Stock
You want to get your Root Stock ordered in the Fall. This will make sure you’re one of the first to get your order, in increasing your chances of getting what you want.
When To Cut Branches – Scions
Once your Apple Trees are dormant in the late fall you can cut your branches and store them for Spring Grafting. These first year branches (Scions) can be cut anytime during the dormant period, but I prefer late Fall (November) or early Spring (March). Here we show cutting & storing Scions, visit our other articles on how to graft and care for them. Once your branches are grafted to your root stock you can plant them, but they will need protected from the Rabbits and deer until they are approximately 5 years old. Once your trees are 3 years old you can start to graft other branches (Scions) to them, creating a tree with a variety of apples, all exact clones of the tree you took those branches off.
