Grafting ornamental red-flowering hawthorn onto hawthorn

As an example of plant grafting, we show here the grafting of hawthorn with redthorn. The hawthorn we used is a Yamadori with a straight trunk. It has a nice broad base and has already developed an old bark. However, it lacks branches, which means that new branching is required.

It is precisely this state of the hawthorn that is ideal for grafting. The hawthorn would need around six to eight years to produce flowers again on its own. By grafting with a hawthorn, a flowering result is possible in just two to three years. In addition, the hawthorn produces pink flowers, bears larger fruit and is generally much more resistant to disease.

First of all, we have our freshly dug up Yamadori hawthorn, which first has to grow in its new planter. Once it has done that, we can start with the actual grafting at the end of August.

The fresh shoots of the hawthorn were already seven to eight millimetres thick at the time of oculating (end of August). We positioned and fixed the branches of the rootstock with tensioning wire. This allowed us to insert the redthorn rice buds at a depth of around two to three millimeters. We carried out this procedure on the entire hawthorn with the redthorn rice buds.

By the following June, the hawthorn branches had sprouted to such an extent that fixing was necessary. If we had waited until the fall, the shoots would have become too thick and could no longer be bent.

If some of the rice buds have not grown in, then at the end of August they can be topped again with fresh rice.

All oculated and ingrown vines are left to grow completely free for one to two years so that they become sufficiently thick.

Once the oculated hawthorn has developed for a few years, it can be transplanted into another bonsai pot. It is now old enough to start fine pruning. Our hawthorn 'Paul's Scarlet' already showed its first flowers in May.

Here we see the result of oculation after a few years. The tree has developed strong branches and is now in full bloom.

Here we see another example of successful oculation. In this case, only a single rice bud was inserted into the tip of the hawthorn. The resulting crown was thus built up from a single point. This method was particularly suitable for this beautiful little bunjin.

In conclusion, the bonsais shown here are an example of the special whims of nature. You won't find these unusual shapes in the nurseries, where the design is mainly simple and uniform.