How to graft a rose tree? Grafting and care methods for tree roses

The rose tree, also called the tree rose, is made by grafting roses onto a rose rootstock. Its shape is a single trunk with the top covered in a ball or cascading waterfall of rose flowers, in single colors, two colors, or even three colors. It looks like the aristocracy among roses, and it is more beautiful and imposing than ordinary roses! Rose flowers are all vine-like, sprawling in flower beds or on fences, while the rose tree stands like a tree, elegant and upright, with an entirely different kind of beauty.

So how do you get a beautiful rose tree? Below we explain the grafting method for rose trees.

I. Preparation

Rootstock: wild rose (Rosa multiflora) will do; buy it or dig it up on a mountain. Choose a thick, sturdy main trunk, generally at a height of 80 cm is fine. It should not be too tall, to avoid lodging after the rose tree takes hold. Scion: use young shoots of the rose you like; it can be one variety, two, or even three. Grafting film: plastic film or cling film will also work. Grafting knife: a utility knife is fine; it is best to sterilize it before use.

II. Rootstock treatment

Cut off the top of the rootstock until fresh wood is exposed, or graft directly at the point where you cut it. At the top of the rootstock, make two vertical parallel cuts; the distance between the two cuts should equal the diameter of your scion. Then peel the bark open from top downward to expose the cambium, that is, the layer between the bark and the wood, forming a rectangular slot. Do not remove the peeled-back flap of bark.

III. Scion treatment

Cut a young rose shoot with bud eyes into a length of 7-8 cm. Make one diagonal cut at the lower part, about 3 cm long, exposing the cambium of the shoot, then make another diagonal cut on the opposite side, about 2 cm long. One side long, one side short; the exact lengths are not really that standard, and depending on your rootstock diameter they can be a bit larger or smaller.

IV. Grafting

Insert the scion into the pre-opened slot in the rootstock, with the long cut face on the wood side and the short one on the bark side. Leave 3 mm of the cut surface on the wood side above the rootstock; this is called "liubai" (leaving a gap), which helps the scion and rootstock heal together. Finally, wrap the scion and rootstock tightly with grafting film or plastic film so they make full contact. When wrapping, be careful not to let their joined parts shift out of alignment. Generally two layers of wrapping are enough; too thick is not good for healing. It does not need to be wrapped too tightly, as long as the join does not let rainwater in. If you want to graft several varieties, just repeat these steps on the rootstock.

That covers the grafting of rose trees. Note: after grafting is complete, keep it out of direct light, keep the soil moist, and try several plants. In the early stage the survival rate may not be high, but as long as the scions do not turn black and dry up, you will soon have beautiful rose trees!

Tree rose prices and grafting methods

Tree rose prices vary depending on the variety and size. On the market there are plants for a few yuan each, and also ones for several dozen yuan each. Because roses do not have high requirements for growing conditions and their flowering period is relatively long, they can even bloom in the cold winter. Therefore, in recent years the demand for tree roses has grown larger and larger. Tree roses can be seen everywhere in flower beds along roadsides, embraced by other green plants, and when they bloom they seem to vie in splendor, making a bright scenic sight in the city. Below we describe in detail the grafting method for tree roses.

Tree rose prices:

Tree roses are mainly grafted using roses with thick stems, upright shape and well-developed root systems. The specific price depends on the material of the rootstock and the grafted rose variety, so it cannot be generalized; however, the most ordinary tree rose is only about 1000 yuan.

Now let's start learning several common methods of grafting roses:

1. Cleft grafting (stem grafting), as the name suggests, is attaching the scion (a section of branch rather than a bud) to the rootstock. There are many kinds of stem grafting methods; those commonly used for roses are cleft grafting and cut grafting. In fact, apart from the different position of the cut, these two classifications are basically no different. Cleft grafting is mostly used for thicker rootstocks, such as tree roses made with larger-grade mountain rose as rootstock; the root grafting method often seen online belongs to cut grafting. The suitable season for stem grafting is roughly the dormant season, best in early spring before the sap resumes flowing. Here a few points need to be emphasized:

Knife technique: strive for a flat, straight cut surface, best done in one stroke. Only a flat, straight cut is easy to fit tightly. To achieve good knife technique, please prepare yourself a razor-sharp blade and an invincible sword manual, and practice through the coldest days of winter and the hottest days of summer, rising at dawn to sweep the courtyard. Binding: if conditions permit, be sure to seal the cut surface of the rootstock and the top surface of the scion, otherwise they easily lose water and dry up. Small cross-sections can be covered directly with grafting film; large cross-sections are better sealed with grafting wax. In reality some people seal with yellow clay, but that is when their skill has reached the level of wounding a person by flying a flower or a leaf; do not casually try it.

Season: the highest survival rate is in late winter and early spring before the sap resumes flowing. Other seasons are not impossible, only the survival rate is not so ideal, especially for beginners.

Care: adapt to local conditions.

2. Bud grafting. The methods commonly used for roses are T-budding, door-shaped budding (also called "big open door", which has the largest cambium contact area and also the highest survival rate), and chip budding. There is no specific seasonal requirement, except that the first two require peeling bark, so it is best not to do them in winter and other seasons when the bark is hard to peel. From this angle, chip budding is the method that can truly be done all year round. In addition, chip budding is also the simplest to perform and is suitable for beginners. Because bud grafting is often done in the growing season, in order to save the rootstock's life it is best to keep some leaves (at least pinch off the growing tip, otherwise apical dominance will make the buds you grafted wait until you cannot stand it before they sprout). Wait until the grafted buds have grown shoots and leaves and can provide nutrients to the roots before cutting back the rootstock; there is no hurry.

For T-budding, first cut the rootstock, then remove the shield-shaped bud piece. Please note the "little bone" in the picture above; this is the vascular bundle on the back of the bud. When removing the bud piece, be sure not to knock it off and form a small hole, because then even if it "takes", it is merely giving the rootstock a new piece of skin, like a cosmetic skin replacement surgery, and you can forget about sprouting shoots. Also, when removing the bud piece, strive to be clean and neat; a qualified bud piece has a moist, smooth back, so do not make it all tendons and flesh, which is bad for survival. After removing the bud piece, put it in your mouth to keep it moist (you can also keep it moist in purified water). Then as quickly as possible make the T-cut on the rootstock and peel back the bark there, then place it in position and bind it, and so on. Keeping a short piece of leaf stalk is to make it convenient to check whether it has taken; not keeping it is also fine.

   The grafting method for tree roses is simple to perform and easy to master. Whether or not you have grafting experience, you can handle it easily. Through grafting you can cultivate roses that combine the advantages of various varieties. Of course, many tree roses nowadays are already used as exhibits or placed in specific positions for people to admire, so you can also, according to need, graft tree roses that suit the scene. Finally, note that the grafting time should be suitable, and carefully and meticulously select branches with good growth and morphological characteristics that meet the requirements as the branches to be grafted.

Grafting and cultivation of tree roses

The tree rose, also called rose tree or rose standard, is a new type of rose produced from an upright trunk through horticultural means (cuttings, root cultivation, trunk training, grafting, pruning, shaping and other measures). It is most prevalent in the Shandong region. Today the editor mainly introduces the grafting and cultivation techniques for tree roses, for everyone's reference and study.

I. Grafting time

Generally bud grafting is carried out from May to September. For tree roses, grafting is most suitable from late December to mid-to-late January in winter, performing bud grafting with wood in a greenhouse.

II. Grafting methods

1. Bud patch method: thin out the rootstock -> take the bud -> trim the bud -> trim the rootstock -> cut the rootstock -> insert -> tie -> water.

2. Winter bud grafting with wood on formed rootstock trees: in autumn and winter, dig up the rootstock after leaf fall ahead of time (more than a month in advance) and pot it or transplant it into a greenhouse for care and management. By late December you can begin bud grafting with wood. First make the cut on the rootstock on the main branch, then immediately cut a 2 cm long bud piece with some wood from the reserved rose scion branch. After that, insert the trimmed rose bud into the cut rootstock. The two cut surfaces must be equal in length, and the cambium layers of the two must be aligned. Finally bind with plastic tape, with appropriate tightness, and then move on to care and management.

Management after grafting

Strengthen management of the grafted plants, removing at any time the small buds sprouting on the rootstock to ensure the normal sprouting of the rose grafted buds. After confirming that the graft has taken, in April or May replant the plants in the field to care for them until they take shape.

III. Cultivation methods

1. Variety selection: choose varieties with thick branches, strong growth vigor and an upright, tall plant form, such as grandiflora roses, and propagate them by cuttings in May to June.

2. Training the trunk form: after the cuttings have taken, promptly remove buds and prune branches, keeping only 1 upright, upward-growing, vigorous branch as the main trunk, while appropriately increasing water and fertilizer to promote growth in the height and diameter of the main trunk. A main trunk height of about 1.5 m is enough; of course, if possible, the main trunk should be made as tall as possible.

3. Determining the trunk height: cut the trunk at a position 1.5 m or higher above the ground, then select and keep 3-5 well-developed, evenly distributed buds near the cut to sprout and form side branches, and remove all the other side buds.

4. Training the crown form: after the side branches have formed, in the spring of the second year they can be cut back, keeping a length of 30 cm. Then near the cut on each side branch select and keep 3 buds, and remove the other side buds. On each side branch, 3 more branches can be kept, thus forming a "3 limbs and 9 tips" headed tree shape, which is the basic tree skeleton of a tree rose. On this basis, repeatedly pinch and thin the branches on the side branches, so that the number of branches on the crown continuously increases and gradually forms a full, round, spherical crown. After a few years, a tree rose with a certain trunk height and a complete crown can be cultivated. After blooming, the crown is a mass of flowers, a feast for the eyes.

Summary: the above is the grafting technique for tree roses. We hope it is helpful to everyone.