The fascinating and fun world of Franken-trees

Imagine having a tree in your yard that produces all kinds of apples — a different type on every branch. They’d produce different coloured blossoms. The apples would be different colours and different shapes. They’d each have their own flavour.

You could call it a Franken-tree and (depending on your tastes in fiction) it could be something out of either Dr. Seuss or Mary Shelley … except that it’s not fiction. This tree actually exists.

Doug McGregor is the owner of just such a curiosity.

“I have a tree in my driveway with about 10 kinds of apples on it,” says McGregor, who owns and operates Oak Summit Nursery (oaksummitnursery.ca), a mail order fruit tree nursery near Brandon.

“It has branches with apples that ripen in July and then some that ripen in September. Instead of having too many apples all at once, you can walk by this tree any day from summer through fall, and pick an apple.”

Franken-trees are fruit trees which are created by grafting multiple branches from different types of fruit-bearing trees onto the limbs of another. Most grafting, however, is only one type onto another.

One reason to do it is time.

“Trees take years to grow from seeds, but you can jumpstart that process by grafting one species to another with an established trunk or rootstock,” says McGregor.

“You’re not starting from scratch. You have a full grown tree. You’re saving yourself years of waiting. It’s already got its whole root system.”

Another reason for grafting is that it produces a clone. This is why grafting is done on a commercial basis — especially with apple trees — where producing consistent fruit strains for sale is imperative

“You can grow your plants from seeds, but they’ll always be genetically different from their parents. There will be some mixture of characteristics from both parents. If you want the exact same fruit, the exact same tree, grafting is clonal propagation,” he says.

He says that for as long as anyone has been growing fruit trees, they’ve been grafting and the techniques are very old. Tree grafting was much more common in domestic gardens when people relied heavily on homegrown produce.

“It’s almost a lost art form, and that makes it interesting to me,” says McGregor.

He’s hoping to spark renewed interest with a workshop on Sunday, May 4 at the Assiniboine Food Forest. This is the second year it will be offered at AFFI (Assiniboine Food Forest Inc.). AFFI is a registered volunteer charity that focuses on food security and reforestation efforts in the Brandon area.

“Grafting is a healing process that happens in nature. If trees are growing in close proximity and two tree branches rub together, they can actually fuse if they’re genetically similar enough,” he says.

The process is fairly straightforward. McGregor says that if, for example, you had a crab apple tree you wanted to change, rather than cutting it down, it could be used as a “frame” to graft apple tree shoots onto. The wood to be attached is the “scion,” which is one-year-old growth about as thick as a pencil.

“You cut back branches and then you’re going to have stumps. Using one or more grafting techniques, you would match the stump to the piece of scion wood. You only need a piece of plant material that’s a couple of inches long, as long as it has one or two buds on it,” he says.

“Under the bark, there’s a layer called the cambium. The key is to make sure that the cambium layers between the two pieces are in contact. They need to overlap — not even perfectly — and that kicks off the process and they form connective tissue,” he says.

“Then, they need to be wrapped up to keep rain from getting in.”

Wrapping materials are stretchy to accommodate growth and grafting wax is helpful to seal the graft.

“With apples, you’re going to start to see growth after a few weeks. Often by the end of the summer, you can have several feet of growth. It isn’t always 100 per cent, but you can go back and try again,” he says.

“If you’re a beginner, apples are relatively forgiving.”

At the grafting workshop, participants will receive a potted tree for grafting, McGregor will provide different scion woods.

In the meantime, McGregor is still mastering his art form and growing his small business.

“I’ve been out experimenting with grafting plums onto our wild chokecherry, and it does work,” he says.

“I’m running some larger experimentation because it’s one of those things where there’s no commercial application, so it seems like no one’s tried it.

“I really enjoy it — it’s something I’m doing as a business, but I would do it for fun no matter what.”

Tree grafting workshop date: Sunday, May 4, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1735 Rosser Ave East, Brandon.

To register: email doug@oaksummitnursery.ca

Limited spots are available and a $40 donation to AFFI includes your grafted tree and scion of your choice.

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