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elliander_eldridge

Grafting a large Mulberry branch?

I have many Mulberry trees in my yard, but only have one fruiting female. They are old as well. Well, unfortunately one of the males had to be cut down to just above the 1st branch and I was thinking of doing a cleft graft with it.

The thing is, it's a very large trunk, and from counting the rings is clearly well over 60 years old (not sure how much older, because many rings are close together)

It's not the largest trunk I have though, and the female tree often needs pruning so I was thinking of taking two large branches and cleft crafting them on. However, I haven't seen any examples of anyone doing one that large so I was wondering if there's any problem with that?


My other big concern is about the shape of the stump. It was cut at an angle and the tree leans with that angle, so if I graft in line the risk is higher that it will fall off before taking, but if I flatten the cut the weight of new growth pushes straight down. I could support either way, but which is preferred? Flat or angled?

The cut was also made a few weeks ago, but couldn't do anything with it until now. Is it possible to graft it as it is or do I need to slice a few inches off the top with a chainsaw for the graft to take? I know the scion can't dry out, but is that a concern for the trunk since I'd be cutting down to wedge the scion anyway?

Also:

How deep should the graft be in a case like this? Will cutting below the remaining branch line cause a problem for the remaining branch if it's not cutting into that branch?

And is there a way to add new female branches on the side of the bark to make it more bush like for better harvest?

Thanks.


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