Category: Gardening information

Annual Grafting Workshop and Scion Exchange

On By durhammastergardenersIn ask a master gardener, fruit in the home garden, fruit production, Fruit tree propagation, fruit trees, gardening education, Gardening information, Grafting, plant propagation, pruning fruit trees, Scion, Scion exchange, Scions, sustainability, Uncategorized, Upcoming gardening events

By Jeff Kanters, NC State Extension Master Gardener SM volunteer

Are you interested in learning how to propagate woody plants, including your own fruit and nut trees? Come learn the art of cleft grafting with some of Durham’s Extension Master Gardener SM volunteers at our annual workshop which will be held on February 1,2025.

Grafting Class and Workshop

The workshop will teach you both how to graft and what plant combinations will be successful. Whether you are interested in preserving an heirloom family fruit tree or grafting multiple related fruits onto a single rootstock (Yes, “fruit cocktail trees” are a real thing), this workshop is the perfect opportunity to learn what works, what doesn’t and how to do it. Seats are limited and registration is required and available at the Triangle Fruit and Nut Growers site.

Scion Workshop 2023 (Image credit: Ashley Troth)

The class will offer education on unusual fruits to consider for your landscape as well as how to propagate woody plants. The grafting workshop will teach how to graft and what plant combinations will be successful and provide hands-on practice. The schedule for the workshop is:

Schedule: February 1, 2025

9:00 to 9:25 am – Unusual Fruit to Grow At Home
Interested in growing fruit but bored with the run of the mill varieties? We will show you some alternatives to grow at home.

9:30 to 10:00 am – Hardwood Cuttings
Nothing to do on a cold winter day but daydream about how you’re going to get more plants this spring? We have the answer. Making hardwood cuttings while they’re dormant is one of the easiest ways to get lots more of your favorites. Join us to learn this simple method of vegetative propagation.

10:00 to 10:50 am– Grafting demo and hands on workshop

Imagine a rose bush with different colored blossoms or a nectarine/apricot tree. Do you want to increase your inventory of shrubs and trees but have little room? Learn the grafting method commonly used to add different varieties onto an existing plant so that both varieties produce flowers and/or fruit.

Image credit: Sarah Smith

Scion Exchange

February is the perfect time for winter pruning of trees and bushes including fruit and nut trees. Instead of composting the discarded branches (scions), exchange them for others and pick up some new-to-you varieties. The Scion Exchange will be held from 11:00-12:00 on February 1, 2025 at the NC Cooperative Extension (721 Foster Street, Durham, NC 27701). Registration is not needed. Just show up with your scions and tools. Bring bagged and labeled dormant scions to share with others; empty plastic bags to collect new scions; and damp paper towels. Take only what you will use. A 6-8 inch scion can supply two to three pieces for grafting.

Gardeners enjoying a previous Scion Exchange (Image credit: Triangle Fruit Growers Association)

What is a Scion?

Scions are twigs of the above ground portion of a tree representing last year’s newest growth, typically 8-18 inches in length and roughly the size of a pencil. They can come from fruit trees, grapes, kiwi, berries, or woody ornamentals. Scions are used to graft onto existing trees or new root stock, the below ground portion of a tree.

At this event, you will be bringing scions (twigs) home with you to graft onto your existing tree or rootstock. We encourage you to bring scions from your garden to share with other scion exchange participants. The more plant varieties people bring, the better the choices will be!

For detailed instructions on collecting and preparing your scion, see the Triangle Fruit and Nut Growers page: collecting and preparing scions . You can also email KatCauseyEMGV@gmail.com with any questions.

A group of scions labeled, bagged and ready to graft onto root stock. A close up of a grafted scion.

(Image credit: Triangle Fruit and Nut Growers Group.)

The History of the Scion Exchange Program in the Research Triangle Park (RTP) Area

Around 2015, Ms. Susan Emshwiller, moved to Durham, NC from California. An avid orchardist, she was surprised that, unlike California, a scion exchange program did not exist in the RTP area of North Carolina for fruit and nut orchardists. She decided to start one.

Acquiring the support of Seeds™, a non-profit, two-acre urban garden, and kitchen classroom operating in Durham, Susan initiated the Scion Exchange. This event incorporated classes on grafting along with the exchange of dormant scions for those interested in grafting different varieties on to their fruit trees.

In 2021, Susan, longing for open spaces, decided to go back west, this time to Arizona. Understanding that the scion program was in jeopardy without Susan, NC State Extension Master Gardener SM volunteer Kat Causey approached Ashley Troth, the Durham County Extension Agent, with a suggestion that the EMG program continue hosting the grafting workshop, scion exchange, and the scion exchange website.  Ashley agreed.

Kat, together with fellow member Sara Smith, visited Susan in her home to discuss this idea. They admired her many fruit trees with multiple varieties grafted on dwarf stock. Susan agreed to the transfer and relinquished her documents, website and knowledge to Kat and Sara.

In 2022, Kat and Sara, together with others on the plant propagation team, hosted the first grafting workshop and scion exchange. This time it was held at the Cooperative Extension building on Foster Street under the Master Garden SM program of Durham. It was a success. We thank Kat and Sara for their early vision and continued service to the community.

Additional Readings and Resources

Want to know more about propagation techniques and growing tree fruit and nuts in your home garden? Check out these two chapters from the North Carolina Extension Gardener Handbook:
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/13-propagation
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/15-tree-fruit-and-nuts


For more information on grafting and different techniques, see NCSU Grafting and Budding Publication : https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/grafting-and-budding-nursery-crop-plants

The Missouri Extension Service also has a publication on grafting: Read Missouri Extension
publication for more in-depth information. https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/g6971

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To do in the Garden: January, 2025

On By durhammastergardenersIn ask a master gardener, Common questions, dealing with fall leaves on lawn, garden tasks, Gardening calendar, Gardening information, lawn care, plant disease, Uncategorized

By Gary Crispell, NC State Extension Master GardenerSM volunteer of Durham County

Hey! It’s January, and not just any old January. It is the beginning of the end of the first quarter of the 21st centur. (Look, any excuse for a party, right?). December has come and gone (along with 2024). It only got almost really cold, we had a little rain, and we had some really pleasant days. I’ll take it. Now it is a new month, new year and new garden. Is there a garden in existence that can’t stand some degree of change? I think not. That’s one of the beautiful, wonderful, and frustrating things about gardens. They are never complete or even just right. So, what’s gonna be new in your garden in 2025? Regardless, here are a few (very few, it is January after all) things you can do in the “old” garden should the month deliver a “balmy” day or two.

Lawn Care

If you haven’t already cleared the lawn of leaves, exactly what are you waiting for? There won’t be anymore leaves falling until the oaks shed their bottom leaves in the spring. Just do it, already. Take a really good look at the grass area of your yard and see if there is a possibility of eliminating some (all?) of the grass. Less lawn equals less expense and greater sustainability. Think about it. It’s your planet, too.

Fertilizer

Nope. Nothing to see here folks.

Planting

Maybe some asparagus crowns, but that’s about it for January. I take that back. I successfully transplanted trees from the nursery in January. Just remember if it turns dry, they need water even if they don’t have any foliage.

Asparagus can grown from one-year-old roots, called crowns. Crowns grow vertically and horizontally. This is an example of ‘Purple Passion’ asparagus crowns. (Image credit: NC Cooperative Extension (osiristhe CC BY-ND-2.0)

Pruning

This is it. Your best reason to go play in the yard in January. Trees and shrubs especially are less traumatized by January pruning. The wounds heal faster from January infliction than in other months. Also, unless you have an actual hedge, please resist the temptation to use the hedge trimmer. Shearing is best left to the English, French or Japanese formal gardens. Hand pruning individual branches will produce healthier and more esthetically pleasing plants.

Spraying

So, the plants you brought in off the deck for the winter had “friends” on them and now they are somewhat bothersome? It happens. If possible, take them back out on a nice day and spray them with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap. Let them dry then bring them back inside. If you have to spray them inside just be careful. Wipe up any overspray. ALWAYS READ THE LABEL. If you have azaleas planted in a sunny location, you probably have azalea lace bugs. They will be actively feeding whenever it is above 40 degrees. Spray them with a horticultural oil and be done with them (at least until hot weather).

Lace bugs congregate on the undersides of azalea and rhododendron leaves. They suck out the sap, robbing the plant of nutrients and causing the leaves to turn speckled grey-brown or silvery. The nymphs excrete honeydew, a sugary liquid on which sooty mold develops. If this coating becomes dense it decreases photosynthesis, further reducing the plant’s health. (Image credit: NC Cooperative Extension, JR Baker)

What to do when January is too inhospitable to play outside?

Three words: seed catalogs, Google. Think about places in the garden where you might experiment with plants you haven’t tried before. Research the plant’s appropriateness for the space. “Right Plant Right Place” isn’t just a catchy phrase. Especially think about natives. Is the sunniest part of your yard right out front? Stick some tomatoes in with the petunias and marigolds, or put peppers in the perennial bed. It’ll give the neighbors something to talk about until you start sharing the tomatoes. If you have an HOA, my condolences.

Stay warm, y’all. March is closer than you imagine.

Additional Reading and Resources

Learn the best way to sharpen your shears before you prune.

Interested in starting an asparagus bed?

Leaving the garden a little untidy in the winter can provide an important food source for birds.

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