North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["victoria l. caron" <vicaron@gis.net>]

I also got the idea form Bill Lord's pruning workshops. I braided for two 
other applications. One young tree that was partially girdled had some
rootstock suckers which I braided hoping to speed up the recovery. The other 
was a tree with winter damage on the south side. Once the braid
incorporated where it could, it gave me branches on this south side where I 
could not have otherwise get them. Now those branches are producing.
vic NH zone 3

Bernie Nikolai wrote:

>         Last week I was speaking with Dan Whitney, a professional grafter in
> Washington State.  He told me when his crew professionally topworks an apple
> orchard to another variety, he "braids the grafts".  You can see photos of
> his braided grafts at http://www.whitneysorchard.com/grafting-commercial.htm
>         Dan selects the main leader, strips the leaves from the braided
> portion, and then braids the other whips that have taken from his bark
> grafts around the newly chosen main leader.  If there are two whips to be
> braided around the main whip chosen as the new leader, each is braided three
> times around the leader/whip, one clockwise, and the other counterclockwise.
> You have to tie the braids for the first bit so they don't unravel.
> Apparently the advantages are much earlier fruiting in the case of a new
> trunk (3 years instead of 5) coupled with a much more solid trunk/branch
> which resists being blown out in the wind.  Apparently within a very few
> years, the braids all naturally graft within themselves, and you can't tell
> they were braided originally.  The braided whips soon self graft, feed the
> new leader, and result in much more growth, earlier fruiting, and a lot more
> stability in wind.
>         While it looks a bit wierd at first (see photos on website), I'm
> going to try this this coming spring.  I have several new apple trees that I
> started by cutting the trunks off flush with the ground and installing 3
> bark grafts (trees 3 inches in diameter).  Up to now I've just selected the
> whip I wanted as the new trunk and cut the other two off.  This spring I'll
> braid them and see how it goes.  Has anyone else tried this "braiding"
> technique and can comment on it, pros and cons?
>
> Bernie Nikolai
> Edmonton, Alberta zone 3/2
> ps Dec 10 already, and our coldest is only -5F or -20C so far
>
>
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