Grafting fruit trees bears a big harvest

LITTLE ROCK — If your dreams of having a huge orchard with a variety of fruit trees is cramped by the realities of your tiny gardening space, then grafting may be the answer.

Although it might sound like something an unscrupulous politician would engage in, grafting is the art of growing different varieties on a single host plant. Instead of having a dozen different fruit trees, you can, with some planning and research, have a dozen different fruits growing on a single tree.

You may not realize it, but grafting is quite common - any fruit or citrus tree you buy in a nursery is the product of grafting. Adormant twig (called a scion) of one variety is grafted onto the host tree (called rootstock) to get the best of both worlds - a tasty variety growing on a tree better suited to conditions and more disease resistant than the scion.

Here are some how-to tips from the California Rare Fruit Growers Association:

Cut scions from vigorously growing, 1-year-old wood with long spaces between buds. Choose single-bud wood (leaf buds) rather than clusters (flower buds).

Graft the scion onto similar-sized 1-year-old wood on your tree branches. The grafts will take better with scions that have no more than three leaf buds. That way the graft puts its energy into growing in its new home, not producing a lot of leaves.

In a process called whip grafting, match the diameter of the base and the scion, then make identical 1-inch to 1 1 /2-inch diagonal cuts on each. Make sure the two pieces match and fit against each other as closely as possible and that the cambium (the filmy green layer) touches.

Seal the graft by wrapping it tightly with grafting tape. Seal the top of the scion with Parafilm or Buddy Tape.

Label your grafts with metal tags and make a note of what you’ve grafted.

For details on when to collect scions and which scions to pair with which rootstocks, check crfg.org.