BRIDGE GRAFTING
and
INARCHINGDAMAGED FRUIT TREES
Prepared by Crops Research Division,Agricultural Research ServiceGirdling of
fruit
trees may becaused by rodents, sun-scald, winterinjury, disease,
or
mechanical in-juries such as those resulting fromcultivating
.
If
girdling
is
not repaired, thedamaged trees die.Girdling is theresult of destruction of the barkand living tissue that connect theroots of a tree with the part thatis above the injury. Repair
con-
sists of reestablishing the connec-tion.Girdled trees often can be savedby bridge grafting
or
by inarching(approach grafting). To be suc-cessful, either type of repair mustbe made soon after injury.
If
girdling
injury
is
entirely aboveground
or
if
it
has not seriouslydamaged the main roots,
it
can berepaired by bridge grafting.
If
theroots are damaged so badly thatpieces cannot be graftedonthem,the trees must be repaired byinarching.These operations are suited tothe repair of any kind of fruit
tree
that can be propagated by grafting.They are performed most success-fully in early spring, about the timethe trees are beginning to grow.
BRIDGE
GRAFTING
Bridge grafting consists essen-tially of cleaning the wounded areaand connecting the bark
on
thelower part of the trunk or roots tothe bark
on
the upper part withbridging members-the scions.The scions are placed about
2
inchesapart around the girdled trunk.After the scions have united withthe tree, they
are
inspected periodi-cally and any growth-twigs
or
leaves--arising from them
is
removed.
SCIONS
For scions, use dormant watersprouts
or
terminal growth fromthe previous season. They shouldbe about the thickness of
n
leadpencil and
4
to
5
nches longer thanthe gap they are to bridge to allowfor beveling of the ends. Whenthey are in place, they should archslightly in the middle.Duchess, Fameuse, NorthwesternGreening, Wolf River, McIntosh,and Hibernal Crab are hardy anddisease-resistant apple varieties suit-able for use as scions.
2
The scions must, be dormant.Bridge grafting usually is performedat about the time the trees arebreaking dormancy and beginningto grow; you may have to collectscion material ahead of time.Scionsshould be stored in a refrigerator in
a
suitable medium to prevent drying.
PREPARING
HE
TREES
Clean the injured parts by cut-ting away all dead tissue.
If
the girdled area
is
entirelyabove ground, you need only trimthe torn bark
so
the edges are even.
If
the injury extends underground,you must uncover the roots as
far
back as the wounds extend. Again,
A
B
trim the bark to make the edgeseven.
MAKING
THE
UNIONS
For
the scions and the tree
to
form a union and grow together,their cambiums-the layer betweenbark and wood-must be in contact.Two methods of achieving this con-tact are described here; they aredesignated as
A
and
B.
If
the bark separates easily fromthe wood, as
it
usually does
on
young trees, use method
A.
If
thebark does not separate from thewood easily, use method
B;
thismethod usually
is
necessary for re-pairing old trees
or
injuries thatextend far down the roots.
W
W.
D
Figure
1.-Details of bridge grafting:
A,
Trunk of
a
tree girdled by mice;
B,
woundcleansed and bark
along
the margins trimmed back to healthy growing tissue;
C,
scion with beveled ends ready for insertion;
D,
scions in place, showing theirinsertion under the bark
(w);
E,
grafti4g work completed except for applica-tion
of
protective coating.
3
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
Bridge Grafting and Inarching Damaged Fruit Trees
This is a scan of a USDA fact sheet from 1962 on bridge grafting and inarching, a technique used to repair damaged trees. There's not much information out there on this unusual practice. Do note that the "Minor Injuries" section's recommendations are out of date.
9.8K
Reads
10
Readcasts
23
Embed Views
Recommended
More From This User
Notes
Load more
