Grafting or Budding Roses

How To Graft Roses

I remember my first attempts at grafting (or budding roses). Dismal! But after many failures, I finally got a few to take. From that day on, my yard became a mass of weird looking rose bushes, each sprouting multiple varieties.

There are a few simple tips to make it easy.....I had to learn these the hard way, but you don't have to, if you follow these easy steps.

Firstly, prepare the rose bush that you want to bud
let's suppose you have a rose that you dont want anymore. the color is wrong, it doesn't fit with surrounding plants, or perhaps you just feel like a change? I prune them hard over the winter, get rid of most of the bush, down 18"-2' in height And I'm ruthless with the lower growth....you don't want suckers coming up next season to compete with your new buds! Pay attention to the time of the year.

Mid summer is the best time to bud roses. You need the sap to be at full flow, giving the new bud a chance to "take". maybe a few weeks before mid summer is OK, as long as there is good strong fresh growth on the plants.

Prepare your buds.

I usually take a nice newish shoot of last years growth to take my buds from. My next step is to leave the cutting in water for several hours. I will also try and do my budding in the late afternoon. This gives the bud overnight to settle, rather than be scorched by a full day's sun. Commercial growers don't worry about such things of course, but when you are doing only 1 or 2, then you can afford to pick your time.

Cut the buds

All you need to do, is use a craft knife, or razor-blade, to carefully slice the buds off the cutting. take a reasonable size slice, perhaps 1/2 inch long, and make sure it's deep enough that you take a section of the harder wood out with it.

Now if you turn it over, you will have a small shield shaped bud.....use your knife to pop the hard section of wood out from the base of it.

Make a T cut in the rose to be budded.

Make the top of the T about 1 inch long, the same with the vertical cut. How deep you cut is VERY important, and will be the main cause of any failures. Just below the bark, is what's known as the cambium layer. This is what the rose uses to transport water and nutrients around the plant.

DON'T cut throught this! You should be able to peel back the flaps of your cut just enough to see this layer. It has a slimy pale green appearance. Now just pop the bud into the gap, and push back the flaps. Oh yes, and make sure the bud is the right way up!

Bind the bud

Some commercial growers dont bother with this....but they have plenty of experience, and many thousands to do per day. So use some riffia to bind above the top of the bud. This will help it keep in contact with the cambium layer, which it must do to survive. You can nip the leaf off the bud, but leave the base (the petiole).

You will notice I have just use two twist ties to secure the bud. Grafting tape is better for this, as it will exclude air and water. The most important thing, is to ensure the cambium layers of both the stock plant and the bud are touching.

Once the bud has established, and has new growth coming away, begin to reduce the top foliage. And be ruthless with any suckers sprouting below the new graft.

Remember

Ask your local nursery about the best rootstock to use. A species rose rather than a highly bred rose stock is required. A slightly different method of budding can be found here.