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I am waiting as patiently as I can for my bark to slip. I have several bark or rind grafts to do. I could probably get them in now, but feel as though they do better if grafted after buds break. Have you done any bark grafts yet?
I have, but not this year. Last year I did them at the end of April, which was perfect.I think that doing it later helped a bit because they got fewer frosts.
I'm a couple hours south of Rally and I did mine a week into May. Several trees were in full bloom that I cut off to graft. Bark slipped so easily I thought I was doing something wrong and had nearly 100% survival. Some of my scions grew 8 feet and are the size of my thumb. I believe you might be in OH? I would wait another 2 weeks minimum. I will be back in MI around May 15 to do some more this year.
I went ahead and grafted all but two of mine. The bark is a little tight and I mean a very little, but it slips away just fine when I insert the knife and pry a little. I have waited a couple weeks more in prior years, but needed to get them done. That is a lot of growth in one year!!!!
I'm a couple hours south of Rally and I did mine a week into May. Several trees were in full bloom that I cut off to graft. Bark slipped so easily I thought I was doing something wrong and had nearly 100% survival. Some of my scions grew 8 feet and are the size of my thumb. I believe you might be in OH? I would wait another 2 weeks minimum. I will be back in MI around May 15 to do some more this year.
I am converting 11 macs to other varieties. It's early, but I did three of them yesterday. Bark slipped ok, but definitely will be easier in a week or two. Couldn't wait.
Here's an update on the top working I did this spring. I converted many of the macs (prone to fireblight) that I planted in 2008 to a favorite wild tree on the property we call Swamp Apple. This picture shows an original 2008 mac in background and 2015 and 2016 topworked trees in foreground. I love having trees of different ages so you visualize what they will become in x years.