There is no reason you can't graft scions from this tree to virtually any existing pear that is convenient for you. I suspect that the hardest part will be finding good scion wood on an old tree, as you want a nice, straight piece about one foot long and pencil-sized in diameter, and old trees are given to short, curly bits of growth. New growth after pruning and watersprouts are good choices. The wood needs to be from last years growth.

Once you get the wood you can graft it yourself, share here as you proposed, or find a professional service (I believe there are several but none come to mind right now) to do it for you. It's not expensive, and even with shipping I suspect you could get a couple of trees for less than $100.

As for walking you through it step by step try this forum. It is for the citrus people, but the sample used is actually a pear. All very nice folk, including some from this board. The tutorial is the first on the list, but here's the link anyway:

http://citrus.forumup.org/about1762-citrus.html

Hope this helps. I look forward to hearing how it all goes.

Good luck,

MarknMT

Here is a link that might be useful: Joe Real's bark grafting tutorial

When you are next there try to take a photo of the tree and show it to us.

Pears are extremely long lived but sometimes become spur-bound with too much gnarled small wood that produces an over burden of fruit. This stops the tree from producing useful fresh wood for grafting material and requires aggressive pruning to stimulate new wood. Other things that cause pears to lose vigor are scab and pear psyla.

If none of these are issues and the tree has nice fresh shoots (pencil width shoots that grew this season) grafting will be easy and you just need to look up splice grafting which is the simplest possible graft.

There are nurseries that provide custom grafting service if you are too busy, although I'm not sure who's offering this service now.

If you tell us where you are and where the tree is there is a chance someone on this forum who lives nearby can help you directly.

Harvestman and mark have pretty well covered it. I would only add that pears are well known as among the easiest to graft. They are are great place to start and you should have no trouble doing it yourself.

Rootstocks are cheap, make yourself 3 or 4 trees and place them temporarily in a garden row, that way you should get a couple good "takes" and then you can choose the best of those after a seasons growth to move to a permanent location.

The important things will be to educate yourself on the rootstock choices, and to be ready to be patient as they can take many years for new trees to begin bearing.

Look at your tree, if you don't have some of the good scion wood those guys described for you do some pruning this winter/spring and the tree should send out some that can be used the following year....assuming you are not in a rush.

You can do grafts with lesser grade scion but the results become much more hit or miss (in my limited experience)

I am in Fort Wayne Indiana and the tree is in Southern Illinois near Lawrenceville. The tree is old!! I am 50 and I do not remember the tree not being there. It's at least 35-40 years old.

It has an old tire that is strangling it. So the base is bigger than the 15 inch hole in the tire. Part of it broke off and left a hole down inside that I could drop a baseball bat down into and not see it.

But it STILL has loads of great peaches. Bushels..

Peach or pear? If you meant peach....well that will change things but I suspect you meant pear...

for a pear 35-40 could be in its prime (although this doesn't sound the case for yours)...they can live well beyond 100. They can take 10 years just to get going.

too bad about the tire. Every time i see someone use them as a mulch ring/landscape I shake my head....I have mentioned it to some folks when they first put the trees in, but they tell me they will cut it off if the tree ever gets that big. It is not easy to cut a steel belted tire.

Thanks everyone. You have been great help.

There may be some good scion wood as my mom mentioned how it was starting to grow around where it broke.

Everyone mentions to get some rootstock and do this and that, but I'm having some trouble figuring out where to get it. I don't need 50 or a hundred.

Ok, so the plan is.
1. order rootstock now and get it growing in the veggie garden until it starts to grow in the spring.

2. collect my scion in the dead of this winter and store at 32 degrees until I can graft to my garden rootstocks in the spring.

yes?

yes it is a pear.

daemon2525,

I too am trying to save an old pear tree that my grandfather planted more than 60 years ago. We tried to bring it down 10 feet a few years ago and I believe that is what brought about a few root suckers. I plan to graft onto these this spring so that maybe the root system of the old tree will feed the new one and it won't take 10 years for the new one to fruit. I've given up on trying to save the old one.

Pears can live 200 years from what I've read, so believe it or not yours might be considered only middle-aged.

I tried many types of grafts on the old tree a few years ago but the only ones that took were chip-bud grafts. I bought The Grafters Handbook and learned quite a lot, but it's not as easy as it seems. I was going to try a root graft until I saw that the tree had put out its own.

The last post you ended up saying, "But it STILL has loads of great peaches." Did you mean pears?

I would love to have some scion too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Can my pear tree be saved?

You will order rootstock this winter, and it will arrive early spring as dormant bare root.

It will go into the ground as soon as soil can be worked in spring. Before planting do your grafts at the kitchen table.

Store the scion wood (and rootstocks) in a plastic bag with a bit of damp paper towel in the fridge...not the freezer

When you cut you scions (in winter) cut lots of differing sizes so you can match the caliper of the rootstocks as close as possible.

Some folks like to let their rootstocks grow for a season before grafting, which probably does stress them less. But it is a lot easier to do the grafting at the table then a couple inches off the ground if you are just learning.

Lots of places to order rootstock depending what you want. Many will sell just a few, you may pay more in shipping and handling than for product but that is the world we live in.

Milehigh, If I recall,what you were dong is pretty different from grafting up a new tree (toping it back and trying to "inesrt" new branches lower?) Normal top working or grafting to rootstock is much easier, as the tree puts all it's vigor into it's terminal ends (where the grafts are)

others with more experience may correct me, but I don't think your wait on fruit will be shortened any by grafting to the root suckers.

I don't know why it was hard for Mile H. to get grafts to take. She must not have been using new wood or was grafting onto something not very vigorous. Pears are the easiest thing we commonly graft, as was more or less stated. However nothing is easy if the tree you're grafting onto is of low vigor.

A splice graft is where you make a narrow diagonal cut on the piece you're grafting and the piece you're grafting onto- best if they're both the same diameter. You can use rubber electric tape (not vinyl unless you come back and cut it with a single slice after graft takes) to pull pieces tightly together so they form an unbroken line. Cover the tip of the graft with some pruning compound and you're good to go.

If you scout around you may find a nursery with a potted pear tree they are anxious to sell at a fraction of it's original price. You can plant it now and mulch it deeply so it survives winter (make sure you water it before planting). You could even use a Bradford pear for the purpose (if they grow in your area).

It may not have any vigorous new wood on it but if you cut it way back in the spring you can graft on it the following spring and it will bare fruit long before a graft could on a tiny root stock.

You could take bud wood from this tree in the summer (new growth) and chip bud onto another pear...pretty easy to do and quick. Depends on how much time you have.

Wow what a great thread!! I am amazed how we are still following milehighgirls tree years later.

I do have some ideas now and did find one place (raintree) that I could buy rootstock from. They deliver in Feb/Mar which is consistent with windfalls explanation.

If anyone can tell me another place to get rootstock would be great, I figure if I get stock from more than one place then I up my chances ?

I'll see what kind of scion I can get this winter. I'll share if I can get several.

I do have a couple of new 2 or 3 year old bradfords in the front yard. I might just whack off some limbs and practice cutting the wood and grafting it back together.

My wife is gonna think that I've lost my mind.

Cummins in NY also sells rootstocks

daemon2525,

Harvestman gives good advice as to buying a larger tree. I believe my grafting problems were due to inexperience and impatience. I purchased the root stocks at the same time I ordered the scion. I have learned now that the rootstocks, or "liners" come with very few roots and are not vigorous enough to graft onto the first year.

Since you have Bradfords already, you might try to "park" some scion onto them for the time being. When you have well established branches you can feel more confident about cutting down the old tree, then if the roots send up shoots you can graft back onto it.

I still have not had any pears from this tree because of a lack of pollinators. I bought a discount Moonglow to plant next to it but I didn't water it as I should have and it's questionable whether it will get through this winter. Three of the grafts I put on the old tree two years ago have taken, but the tree is not putting much energy toward them and they still have not bloomed. Like you I do not visit the property much and the water is turned off there.

I wish you the best of luck, and send me an email if you can share some scion.

windfall_rob,

I didn't catch your earlier post. Is it really true that grafting onto a root sucker will not bring about an earlier bearing tree?

I think I'm gonna cry.

Yes, I have made the mistake of grafting on trees that have just been transplanted and it doesn't work well. I can't see how bare root root stocks would work any better.

Mile high,

I think it is true. I have been meaning to read up on it again, but I have been told that fruiting maturity starts from the ground up.

So while the scion may have come from "mature" wood, the juvenile wood below, from suckers or a new rootstock will "reset" the clock.

I believe this is why when topworking an established tree you can see fruit very soon (mature scion on mature base) but without precocious rootstock you have to wait awhile (mature scion on juvenile base.

Still I would certainly believe that a root sucker from an established tree could provide a strong and vigorous base...perhaps increased vigor and growth factors into fruiting maturity? But I don't think so since keeping young trees vegetative with too much N can delay fruiting.

But like I said I need to read up on all this again, or maybe someone more knowledgeable will step in and set the record straight.

harvestman: I do not understand what you are trying to say.
I would have to be grafting onto bare root stuff if I am bench grafting... Yes?

harvestman said ...Yes, I have made the mistake of grafting on trees that have just been transplanted and it doesn't work well. I can't see how bare root root stocks would work any better.

Milehighgirl: I have no desire to graft onto the tree in it's original location. Even though I currently own the farm that my mother lives on, I will probably not be able to keep it because it's far away and of no use to me .

>>Since you have Bradfords already, you might try to "park" some scion onto them for the time being. When you have well established branches you can feel more confident about cutting down the old tree, then if the roots send up shoots you can graft back onto it. MileHigh, I think that was a very good suggestion. He could easily do half a dozen attempts on one of those trees, get a little practice, and probably have a few takes.

And Daemon, your thought about taking them apart and putting them back together was good advice. You can often find watersprouts on trees (or where somebody has been pruning) and they are great to practice on.

Just remember to collect scion wood when it is dormant and keep it that way in the refrigerator; don't let it dry out.

Graft to existing trees when the early spring flush of vigorous growth is taking place.

Graft close to the trunk and high on the tree, if possible.

Clean your stock before working with it.

Sharp knives make clean cuts. Make sure the pieces fit together well, even if you have to whittle a bit.

Wrap securely, but don't strangle the wood, and prevent drying.

And of course make sure that the cambium layers align nicely.

I have pears grafted to my existing Gold Spice that bore in the third year, four years is more likely.

Good luck,

MarknMT

I make my cuts with a pruning shear which makes it easier to get symetry. It also requires less skill. The only difficulty is getting a narrow, long enough cut. I use a double bladed model that AM Leonard sells but I used to just use a Felco type shear. If the shear has only one blade, make sure it's on the side of the wood you're grafting so you don't tear its bark.

My best growth here comes from grafts made at first signs of bud swell- especially for apples. This way the grafts start growing while the tree is in it's major flush and also the tender shoots of a graft aren't more tender than the rest of the tree. Later grafts draw leaf-hoppers that either kill or slow graft growth.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fruit/msg110236023265.html

Here's the best grafting pictorial I've seen, although it's not my method.

Well, I have the scion wood. It was harder than I thought it would be as most of the ends of the branches were indeed old and full of spurs. I had my son get up on a ladder to get some of what I believe to be new growth.

The ones that I have are just 1/4" or slightly larger. 12" or so long (a very few are longer and larger) and are smooth bark whereas the rest of the tree has old rough bark regardless of it's size.

I was told by my mother that these were seedlings that a relative gave her so they will be a new variety and I can name them! I will call them "Larry's Favorite!" LOL!!!

I will ask for the last time if anyone has rootstock to send or preferably graft for me. If not then I will very soon see if I can buy rootstock. I just don't see where to buy a small quantity of rootstock.

I have 16 sticks as I described above and four that are smaller.

Wish me luck!

Sorry about the crappy picture.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:125459}}

I think that I made a better picture

You have plenty of good scion wood there and there are several commercial nursery operations that do custom grafting work for people at reasonable prices. One of them posts regularly here and, I suspect, hesitates to speak up because of the rules about commercialization of the site. But I would not hesitate to have Rick Godsil at Wagon Wheel Orchards in Edgerton, Kansas do this for me if I were buying.

There are other credible ones and if I knew their names I'd mention them, but I didn't retain them.

One other option (not necessarily your best, but an OK one) is to buy a decent tree of some variety that you like, cut most of the branches back to 8" to 12" stubs, and graft to each stub. If you choose that route there's a whole 'nother list of options that might serve you well!

Good luck,

Mark

I have the same story as you daemon2525.
My tree is on my sister land, but I can get scion.
I believe it is a 50 year or older Pineapple Pear tree.
We could trade if you like.
Would love to keep your alive also.
I could make some scion for other who had mean of grafting.

I'd be happy to benchgraft trees for preservation - just send me some extra sticks so I can make one or two for our orchard here. I'll have several of the OHF series of rotstocks as well as the regular bartlett stock for 2012. Thanks, Rick Godsil, Wagon Wheel Orchard