Grafted Paul’s Scarlet Hawthorn

Back in February 2019, when we could all meet in a room together without hesitation, our club meeting was on the subject of grafting. During that session we all got the chance to graft scions of Paul’s Scarlet Hawthorn onto regular Hawthorn rootstocks.

A simple diagonal cut was used to prepare the graft. The two pieces are placed together and and tied in place ensuring the cambium layer on each part is in contact and lines up well.

The two lowest photos show the graft point on successful plants. Of the trees shown the one to the left has grafted the better of the two examples here with a nice clean graft point. This tree survived underwatering last summer and whilst it lost its leaves and didnt produce new ones it budded well this year. Both of these trees have flowered for the first time since the grafting this year.

Not all the attempted grafts ended up in succcess however….

This tree is the result of a failed graft from the same batch. All of the foliage shown has grown from buds sprouted from below the join. The dead scion has been removed from the point between the three branches.

Here are some further examples of the same batch, these ones have been cut back early this year. Hopefully we can see these plants progress as bonsai as the years pass and we can provide further updates in future!