Approach Grafting Shimpaku on San Jose Juniper

Hails mates,

Pics coming soon.

I have a large San Jose juniper (we'll call him Diego from now on) with nice shape but really ugly scale and needle foliage. Originally I wired the branches and worked the deadwood, but I just can't get over how unsightly the foliage is. Also of note, I ordered the tree from a seller on ebay (I think it was $150) and when it arrived I noticed the soil was hard clay and field dirt. So I burrowed some O2 holes and gave it a few days in the shade, planning to re-pot later. The foliage immediately started to brown. Suspecting root rot, I re-potted out of season and the tree's vitality quickly returned, though some of the foliage still has brown spots some 13 months later. Last prelim note, the root ball had so much hard clay in it I could not safely remove it all, perhaps that's why the brown spots remain. Moving on...

Grafting Materials: I have five pre-bonsai shimpaku specimens, each about a foot an half tall and have very nice, bright green foliage. So, I think it's time to graft. I have never grafted before so I thought I would ask for the forum's expertise before I started. I have graft tape, knife, sealant, sphagnum moss, aluminum wire, and I guess I'll modify zip lock bags for a moisture enclosure if we go the scion route. Missing anything?

Approach or Scion: Diego's trunk is thick, about 3.5 to 4 inches, so I'm worried mere scions will ultimately be too small and disproportionate. So I think approach grafts with the actual trunks of the shimpaku would be ideal. Correct me if you disagree of course. So I have many questions: How large should the grafting cuts be in Diego and the shimpaku, I know they should only be as deep as the cambium but what about length wise? Is this the correct time to graft? Will someone describe the sealant application as I foresee this could be tricky. Am I correct that the baggies and sphagnum moss will not be used in approach grafts? Again pics coming soon.

Thanks Much,
Bacon

I have several approach grafts of shimpaku on to a pair San Jose in progress. After consulting with Michael Hagedorn I placed them on the branches rather than the trunk. I ended up cutting a fairly deep groove the width of the approach graft material. The plan is for the approach graft to grow, finish filling the groove, and bond to the cambium of the old tree. I had a couple that were on the shallow side (through the cambium) and there were not taking - they were being pushed out of the groove. I have also observed the same thing in doing root grafts so I now cut a nice deep groove for the scion wood. Seems to work better on the root grafts, but I have another year or two before I really know how well it worked on the junipers.

Marty

Marty Weiser wrote:I have several approach grafts of shimpaku on to a pair San Jose in progress. After consulting with Michael Hagedorn I placed them on the branches rather than the trunk. I ended up cutting a fairly deep groove the width of the approach graft material. The plan is for the approach graft to grow, finish filling the groove, and bond to the cambium of the old tree. I had a couple that were on the shallow side (through the cambium) and there were not taking - they were being pushed out of the groove. I have also observed the same thing in doing root grafts so I now cut a nice deep groove for the scion wood. Seems to work better on the root grafts, but I have another year or two before I really know how well it worked on the junipers.

Marty

Hey Marty,

I have no actual experience doing this, but would suggest you try to get a slight concave inner edge to your graft grooves. It will keep the scion material in place. Just a thought.

Cheers,

Andrew