About the ablacate and drill grafting techniques

These techniques can be used for almost all types of trees. Such interventions are particularly easy to carry out on thin-barked trees such as maple, beech, ash, apple or sycamore. Trees such as Prunus or Periwinkle, which have a thicker bark, also work with these techniques, the results just take longer. While the results of thin-barked trees can be seen after a few months, evergreens need several years. For these techniques, people like to use their own branches or seedlings.

When should the different techniques be used?
Spring is a good time to lactate the roots. The ideal time is when the worst of the cold has passed and the trees are not yet sprouting. Basically, the branches can be left throughout the year. However, the ideal time is before bud break. For deciduous trees, the beginning of June is a good time and laxation should take place after the first leaf cut.

A time when the tree has no leaves is always ideal for grafting. This can be the case in March or in June after the first leaf pruning. The following applies to all techniques: they should not be used in winter, as frost damages fresh and open wounds.

Our plane tree has already formed a very nice nebari, but an unsightly gap has formed between two thick roots. We are now filling this gap with a one-year-old sycamore seedling.

First, we make an incision between the two thick roots, the later "cutting point". We have to cut through the cambium.

We also cut the seedling at a suitable point, the cambium must be exposed here. This allows the cambium to reach the cambium when the seedling is connected.

We attached the seedling to the sycamore in the correct position with nails. Now only the upper branch of the seedling needs to grow. The lower part forms a new root and thickens. The procedure causes callus to form and the seedling becomes a sacrificial branch.

It finally took two years for the new root to grow in completely and become sufficiently thick.

Here once again the new ingrown root. We have already cut off the sacrificial branch at this point.

We carried out the procedure in June after the first leaf pruning. The trunk of our tree had not formed a lateral branch over a large area, so we left a new branch here. We used one of its own lateral branches for this purpose. The process until complete intergrowth can take around two to three years for this tree

Here you can see the successfully ingrown shoot.

For our grafting in June, we used a Japanese maple (Acer palmatum Arakawa). The Japanese maple only forms a few lateral branches on its own, so a little help is needed to achieve an attractive overall appearance. For our procedure, we used the tree's own branches, which we left to grow for a year.

The technique starts with drilling. We drill through the branch with a thickness of around four to five millimetres.

Now simply insert the young twig through the hole and cover the open areas of the drilled hole.

This result is shown after two years. If the "outgrowing" branch is significantly more pronounced than the "ingrowing" branch, this is a sure sign that the branch has grown in safely.

We used a seedling for this drill graft as the tree's own branches were not long enough for our technique.

Here you can see the successfully ingrown shoot.