What do the terms grafting and budding mean?

Budding is a form of grafting. Grafting is the art of attaching a piece of one plant to another plant, creating a new plant. Grafting is usually done because the desired plant is extremely difficult if not impossible to propagate through other means. Dogwoods, for example, are easily grown from seed, however, it is next to impossible to grow a Pink Dogwood from seed. The seeds from a Pink Dogwood will produce seedlings that are likely to flower white.

The most common method for producing Pink Dogwood trees is to remove a single bud from a Pink Dogwood tree and slip it under the bark of a White Dogwood seedling. This process is known as budding, and the seedling is known as the rootstock. This is usually done during the late summer months when the bark of the White Dogwood seedling can be easily separated from the tree, and the seedling is about 1/4 in diameter.

A very small T shaped cut is made in the bark only, and the bud is slipped in the slot. The actual bud itself is allowed to poke out through the opening and then the wound is wrapped with a rubber band both above and below the bud. By the following spring the bud will have grafted itself to the seedling, at which time the seedling is cut off just above the Pink Dogwood bud, and the bud then grows into a Pink Dogwood tree.

Budding is usually done at ground level, and often times the rootstock will send up shoots from below the bud union. These shoots, often called suckers, should be removed as soon as they appear because they are from the rootstock and are not the same variety as the rest of the plant. Flowering Crabapples are also budded and are notorious for producing suckers. When removing these suckers dont just clip them off at ground level with pruning shears, they will just grow back. Pull back the soil or mulch and remove them from the tree completely at the point where they emerge from the stem.

Most people clip them off a couple of inches from the ground, and then they grow back with multiple shoots. This drives me crazy! Get down as low as you can and remove them completely and you will keep them under control. On older trees that have been improperly pruned for years I take a digging spade and literally attack these suckers hacking them away from the stem. Sure this does a little damage to the stem of the tree, but when a plant is let go like that I figure its a do or die situation. The trees always survive and thrive.

Other plants are grafted up high to create a weeping effect. One of the most popular trees that is grafted up high is the top graft Weeping Cherry. In this case the seedling is allowed to grow to a height of 5, then the weeping variety is grafted on to the rootstock at a height of about 5. This creates an umbrella type effect. In this case the graft union is 5 off the ground, therefore anything that grows from the stem below that graft union must be removed.

Many people dont understand this and before they know it they have a branch 2 in diameter growing up through the weeping canopy of their tree. Before you know it there are several branches growing upright through the canopy and the effect of the plant is completely ruined.

At my website, http://gardening-articles.com Ive got a couple of photos that show exactly what I’m talking about in this article. You can clearly see the weeping effect that the Weeping Cherry tree is supposed to have, but then up through the middle come these branches that are no more than just suckers from the stem, or the rootstock as it is known in the nursery industry.

Looking closely at the photos you can see that these suckers originate from below the graft union. This problem could have been prevented if someone had just picked off these buds when they first emerged on the stem of the tree. Then they would have never developed into branches.

This tree can still be saved, but there will be a large scar on the stem when the upright branches are pruned off. But under the canopy of the weeping tree these scars will never show.

Another interesting plant that is grafted is the Weeping Cotoneaster. In this case the seedling that is grown to serve as the rootstock is Pauls Scarlet Hawthorn, and Cotoneaster Apiculata is grafted onto the Hawthorn rootstock at a height of 5. Years ago a nurseryman found through experimentation that these two plants are actually compatible, and a beautiful and unique plant was created. I have one of these in my landscape and we love it.

Once again since the graft union is at 5, any growth coming from the stem (rootstock) must be removed. In this case the growth coming from the rootstock will be Hawthorn and will look completely different from the Cotoneaster which is what the plant is supposed to be. The easiest way to keep up with this type of pruning is to keep an eye on your grafted plants when youre in the yard. As soon as you see new growth coming from below the graft union, just pick it off with your fingernail.

If you catch these new buds when they first emerge, pruning them off is as easy as that. Walk around your yard and look for grafted or budded plants, and see if you can find any that have growth that doesnt seem to match the rest of the plant. Look closely and you may find that the growth is coming from below a graft or bud union.

You are welcome to use this article on your website or in your newsletter as long as you reprint it as is, including the contact information at the end. Website URLs must be active links. You are welcome to use this article with an affiliate link, http://www.freeplants.com/resellers.htm

Michael J. McGroarty is the author of this article. Visit his most interesting website, http://www.freeplants.com and sign up for his excellent gardening newsletter. Article provided by http://gardening-articles.com

Price : $9.58

Product Description

Covers all aspects of quilting from designing quilt blocks and appliquing to binding and finishing, giving quilters the tools to tackle any project with confidence

This comprehensive how-to book focuses on instructing quilters in the fine art of quilting; it contains no patterns

Valuable tips and expert trouble-shooting advice make projects easier and more enjoyable

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-09-25
I’ve been quilting (self-taught) for 18 months and bought this book about 6 months ago, so I’m not quite a beginner but still have plenty to learn. I use it as a reference work, but unfortunately I have learnt to use it with a pinch of salt. I made the mistake of using one of the tables for calculating how to cut a certain type of triangle. Thankfully I double-checked with a template before cutting my fabric, as the formula given was wrong, although I then had all the trouble of cutting fabric with two sets of markings on it. The formula for calculating the width of binding is also incorrect. I’ve not checked any of the other formulae, but I’m extremely wary of using them now.

This book has no overall contents section, which is awkward, although there is a contents page for each section at its start. It is divided into the following sections, and the pages are renumbered at the start of each section, e.g. 8-12, which again is an awkward way to do things, although it is useful that the section name is printed in the outside margin of every page.

1. Tools, notions and supplies
2. Fabric and colour
3. Planning pieced blocks
4. Planning the quilt top
5. Cutting
6. Hand piecing
7. Machine piecing
8. Hand and machine applique
9. Assembling the quilt top
10. Basting and backing
11. Hand and machine quilting
12. Binding and finishing
13. Specialty techniques
14. Glossary
15. Index

As you can see, this covers the whole process of traditional quilting fairly well, and as it’s a long book, there is plenty in it. There are oodles of nice clear photographs, good headings, diagrams, charts and formulae (which may not be correct!), separate instructions for left-handers where applicable, and spaces at the end of every section where you may write your own notes.

Where techniques are discussed (a few aren’t – bargello quilting gets a paragraph saying what it is but no instructions, for instance), they are usually discussed thoroughly. There are usually several ways to do anything in quilting, and a lot of the time this book will describe several options, though not always. For instance, it gives a variety of options for joining multiple pieces to make backing, but only one option (and not the most popular either) for joining two pieces of batting. I’m not wildly happy with the basting instructions generally, though they’re certainly useful when used alongside other instructions. I also feel that a lot more space should be given to hand-quilting technique, where only one page is devoted to the all-important quilting running stitch. I can’t judge the sections on machine-sewing as I have yet to learn how to use a sewing machine, but as is usual for quilting books, machine-sewing is assumed to be the norm. Where it comes into its own is in giving a lot more information about hand-sewing than most quilting books these days do, and as a hand-sewer I’m extremely grateful for that.

There are very few troubleshooting sections, which is a particular loss in a book which is giving out incorrect formulae: if you follow this book’s instructions to the letter, you’re going to run into problems. There are definitely gaps. For example, the only method suggested for marking up fabrics is to use templates, when many quilters prefer to calculate the piece sizes and draw them straight onto the fabric using an acrylic ruler (a method that is, in my experience, far more accurate and far quicker). It doesn’t even discuss making sure your shapes will fit together the best way possible to use up the minimum fabric (personally I always sketch them out on graph paper first), let alone how to calculate how much fabric to buy.

The most serious omission is that this book is only interested in old-fashioned quilting. If you plan to spend your entire quilting career sticking to traditional geometric patterns based on repeated square blocks, you’ll be fine – as long as you don’t expect the book to teach you how to make any of these blocks! Some basic units, such as flying geese or a square within a square, are covered, and there are discussions on the grid underlying blocks as well as five pages of pictures of traditional blocks (a couple of which I’d say are wrong), but nowhere does the book walk you through putting together a traditional block. This is unusual in quilting books aimed at beginners, which usually give instructions for a few blocks and indicate the level of difficulty for each. If your only source of quilting instructions is this book, half of the blocks in the gallery will be beyond you, since there is absolutely no information on how to sew more complex blocks depicted such as the Mariner’s Compass or Double Wedding Ring. To be honest, an encyclopaedia-style book should really have a much fuller block gallery than this.

If you want to learn how to make art quilts, or how to piece quilt tops that aren’t made of geometrical repeating blocks, there isn’t a word to help you. Ruth McDowell is a good author to go to there, and there are many books and websites discussing more unusual techniques.

I’ve reluctantly given this book three stars. There are too many important omissions in this book, and for a book that sets itself up as a start-to-finish bible, readers may be deceived into thinking that it will cover all of their needs. More importantly, some of the information is plain wrong and will wreck a quilt if followed literally, and some of the instructions give rather odd methods while ignoring the most commonly-used ones. If you take all of that with a pinch of salt, and have other quilting books around to fill the gaps, as well as checking techniques before using them on a full quilt, then it is certainly a very useful book to have in your quilting library.

Review date : 2008-06-16
Great book full of very useful information. Only drawback was that I had to get it in paperback with out the spiral spine.

Review date : 2008-05-31
This is a great book: Outstanding illustrations,super ideas, easy to follow directions.
Wish I HAD THIS BOOK TWO YEARS AGO. I bought one for my sister and she loves it.

Review date : 2008-05-14
This is the best book. It gives you lots of info on quilting both hand and machine. With lots of pictures and written info. Good book for the beginner.

Review date : 2008-02-25
A great book for someone getting started in quilt making. Wife has had an earlier copy of this book for some time. This copy was ordered for a Grand Daughter that entered into a new career two years ago, that being a first time young wife dedicated to becoming a profesional Home maker. Am told this book is a step in the right direction.

Price : $12.16

Product Description

Pamela Crawford has created a complete guide to simple container gardening designed for anyone who has ever killed a plant. It includes illustrated instructions to create gorgeous, fool-proof container gardens that even you can t kill! This book introduces blue ribbon plant combos that you plant in the spring and just add water for the entire growing season. That’s right: no trimming, no fertilizing, and no spraying for up to seven months! Learn the 48 easiest plants and how to arrange them into 70 fabulous container recipes.

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-10-15
Extremely well done. Lots of great information and fabulous photos. Can’t wait for the next book. I am telling all of my gardening friends to purchase this book. Everyone should have beautiful containers to adorn their homes.

Review date : 2008-06-04
I very much enjoyed this book. I do a lot of containers and this book gave great tips on plants that do well in containers. The containers the author uses are much bigger than mine, but the concepts are the same, I just use fewer plants. This book is a keeper, and one I will refer to time and again.

Review date : 2008-05-21
This book is great. When I use a garden book, I like photos and this one is loaded with them. It is also simple to follow and has great advice for new container gardeners or veterans. I adapted some of the ideas to a garden bed as well and they look great.

Review date : 2008-03-12
Living in Georgia and loving gardening and I am transitioning into container gardening !
"Easy Container Gardens" explain, educate and walk you through textures, colors, and color combinations of plants to recipes of success for containers. My reaction to the cover photo is "I can do that," showing complimentary plant blooms. There is a lengthy chapter on container basics. And another chapter on "Best Container Plants" sums up the Blue ribbon winners and container successes. The color photos are just beautiful and an inspiration to be creative with plants.

Review date : 2008-03-08
Wow! Pamela did it again! I already owned another book by Pamela so when I saw Easy Container Gardens on a friend’s coffee table I just had to take a look. Once I got into the book I didn’t want to put it down, even for the supper call! I had to have my own copy. I love the quote on the front, "For anyone who has ever killed a plant!" She might as well add my name to that list. Pamela’s books are always so helpful with directions, pictures (wow, what pictures), and suggestions for keeping your plants among the living. Easy Container Gardens is written so that it is easy to read with lots of step by step directions that will make you look like a pro. I feel that Pamela has a personal connection with every living thing by the way she knows her stuff. I highly recommend this book to those who garden, those who want to garden, or those who just like to look at beautiful pictures of gardens. Go get your own copy. You’ll be glad you did!