Our Gardening Group met on Wednesday 26 March 2025 for a session concentrating on the skills and tools required for successful grafting.

Group member Taj had a selection of ‘scions’ and ‘root-stocks’ to demonstrate the various techniques. She had also brought the tools necessary for completing the job. We had a demonstration of grafting a cooking apple into a dessert apple tree, and we had a demonstration of the techniques for grafting a delicious plum on to a new plum tree stock.

Choosing the right root-stock ensures that the grafted tree, when it grows, will be the right size for the space allocated in the garden. Taj provided a list of all the different root-stocks and the sizes and varieties that they would support as the new scions are grafted in.

We also had a video demonstration of how and when to prune hydrangeas in order to get the maximum number of flowers for the coming summer. Please click here to see the video on YouTube.

Our next meeting will be on 30 April 2025 (please note the change of date) when we will be going to Crews Hill to visit some of the nurseries there and seeing what they have on offer.