Three old skills turn a gardener into an orchardist: pruning, which shapes a tree for health and fruit; grafting, which joins the variety you want onto strong roots; and propagating, which makes new plants from cuttings for free. All three can be learned by a family in a single winter.
These are some of the most satisfying skills on the homestead. A child who learns to graft an apple tree can someday plant an orchard of their own, from a few twigs and a sharp knife.
- 1Know when and why to prune different fruit trees.
- 2Make good pruning cuts and train young trees to a strong shape.
- 3Collect and store scion wood, and make a whip-and-tongue graft.
- 4Grow new plants from cuttings, layering and division.
- 5Propagate responsibly, respecting plant patents.
Why and when to prune
Pruning lets light and air into the tree, removes wood that's dead or diseased, keeps the tree a size you can pick, and builds strong branches that can carry heavy crops.
| Tree | When to prune | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Apples and pears | Late winter, while dormant | Easy to see the shape; wounds close quickly in spring |
| Peaches and nectarines | Late winter, close to bloom | They fruit on last year's growth, so they need fresh wood each year |
| Apricots and cherries | Late summer in wet-winter climates | Pruning in dry weather lets wounds close before rain, which spreads a fungal disease (Eutypa) into fresh cuts |
| Any tree | Summer, lightly | Summer cuts slow growth, so they're useful for keeping trees small |
The order of cuts
- The three D's first: anything dead, damaged or diseased. Clean tools with rubbing alcohol between cuts on diseased trees.
- Crossing and rubbing branches, keeping the better placed one.
- Water sprouts and suckers: straight-up shoots from branches, and shoots from the roots or below the graft.
- Then shape for light and form, stepping back often to look.
- Don't overdo it. A common guideline is to remove no more than about a quarter of the tree in a year.
Good cuts and good shapes
Thinning cuts remove a whole branch back to where it started, opening the tree to light. Heading cuts shorten a branch to a bud, which makes it bushier below the cut. Most mature trees need mostly thinning cuts.
Cut just outside the slightly swollen ring where a branch joins the trunk (the branch collar), not flush against the trunk and not leaving a stub. The tree seals that wound itself. Extension research finds wound paint usually doesn't help.
- Bypass hand pruners for anything up to a finger's width
- Loppers for thicker branches up to about an inch and a half
- A curved pruning saw for larger limbs
- A sturdy orchard ladder (three legs), never the top step
- Gloves and safety glasses
Grafting
Apples, pears and most fruit trees don't grow true from seed: a seed from your Honeycrisp grows into a brand new, unpredictable apple. To get the same variety, you graft a twig of it (the scion) onto a rootstock. Grafting is how every named fruit variety has been passed down for centuries.
- Collect scion wood in winter. While trees are dormant, cut straight, pencil-thick shoots from last year's growth, 12 to 18 inches long.
- Keep it cold and moist. Seal the scions in a food-safe bag with a damp paper towel, label them, and refrigerate until grafting time in early spring.
- Get rootstocks from a nursery, or graft onto a branch of an existing tree.
- Make the graft as buds begin to swell in spring. The whip-and-tongue graft works when scion and rootstock are about the same thickness.
Grafting knives are very sharp. Adults should make the cuts; children can hold, wrap and label. Always cut away from your body.
Propagating: plants for free
Hardwood cuttings
In winter, cut pencil-thick, 8–10 inch pieces of last year's growth and push two-thirds of each into moist soil or a pot. Figs, grapes, currants, gooseberries, elderberries, mulberries and willows root this way.
Layering
Bend a low branch to the ground, nick the bark where it touches, pin it down and cover it with soil. It roots while still attached; cut it free a year later. Works for currants, hazelnuts, blueberries and grapes.
Division
Dig up a clump in early spring and split it into pieces, each with roots and buds. Rhubarb, comfrey, chives, asparagus and many herbs multiply this way.
Seed
Many nut trees and natives like pawpaw and persimmon grow from seed, though they may not match the parent. Most need a winter of cold, moist storage (stratification) before they'll sprout.
How many plants can you make this winter?
| Method | How many you try | Success rate (%) | Plants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fig or grape cuttings | |||
| Currant or elderberry cuttings | |||
| Apple grafts (first year) | |||
| Layered branches | |||
| Divisions (rhubarb, comfrey) |
Success rates are hopeful estimates for careful beginners; yours will vary with timing, moisture and practice. Apple grafts also need a rootstock, often a few dollars each.
Take cuttings and practice a graft
Learn the cuts on scrap wood first, take hardwood cuttings from a friend's fig, grape or currant, and make your first real grafts when spring comes.
You'll need
- Sharp bypass pruners and a grafting knife (adults)
- Rubbing alcohol and a rag
- Pencil-thick willow or apple prunings for practice
- Grafting tape or rubber budding strips
- Pots, potting mix and plant labels
- Food-safe bags and damp paper towels
- Optional: two or three apple rootstocks
Do it together
- Prune together on a dormant tree: find the three D's, crossing branches and water sprouts.
- Practice grafts on scrap prunings until the cuts fit snugly.
- Take cuttings of a fig, grape, currant or elderberry and pot them up. Label each one.
- Collect and store scions of an old variety you love, sealed and labeled in the fridge.
- Graft in spring as buds swell: join scion to rootstock, wrap, and label.
- Track results through the summer: which cuttings rooted, which grafts grew?
Little propagators
- Push cuttings into pots and water them
- Make and decorate labels
- Hold the pieces while an adult wraps the graft
Older propagators
- Identify the three D's and choose cuts with an adult
- Make practice grafts with supervision
- Calculate their real success rate and compare it with the calculator
Add every new plant to the orchard record, with its source and the date. A family nursery bed is a wonderful thing to share with neighbors.
Skills worth passing down
Pruning shears, a sharp knife and a roll of grafting tape are simple tools, but in practiced hands they keep an orchard healthy for a hundred years and make a hundred new trees from a single one. They're skills meant to be taught at the side of someone older, and then passed on.
In the final lesson, we bring in the harvest and learn to keep it through the year.
Your Lesson 5 worksheet
Work through these together. Your answers save on this device as you type, and print cleanly for your records.
Progress record
What this lesson practices:
- SciencePlant structures and growth; how traits pass on through asexual reproduction (NGSS 4-LS1-1, MS-LS1-5, MS-LS3-2).
- MathPercentages and success rates (Common Core 6.RP.A.3c).
- CivicsIntellectual property and plant patents.
- Life skillsUsing tools safely and learning a traditional craft.
Standards mapping is a draft. If you use charter or ESA funds, confirm it with your education specialist.
Sources for this lesson
- UC IPM — pruning apricot trees (late-summer pruning and Eutypa)
- UC Master Gardeners, Contra Costa — prune apricot and cherry trees in August
- University of New Hampshire Extension — grafting fruit trees in the home orchard
- Iowa State University Extension — whip and tongue grafting of apple trees
- Penn State Extension — fruit tree propagation by bench grafting
- University of Vermont Extension — plants and intellectual property