Thread-grafting arakawa maple

grafting, Japanese Maple, Uncategorized 1 Minute

Grafting is an absolutely necessary skill for bonsai. Practice makes perfect, but I’ll settle for good. This arakawa maple is a layer of a larger tree that is no longer in my collection. It’s been in the ground for the last 2 years, and while the nebari was arranged nicely and is developing well, the branches start very high up on the tree. Last year, I let long branches grow with the intent of grafting them back in, lower on the trunk.

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Many methods of grafting exist, but thread grafting is usually the most fool-proof for adding branches to deciduous trees because the scion is not severed from the stock until adherence is complete. It must be done before the buds start to swell, and since this tree is in a fairly protected area, it’s a little ahead of most on the benches. The work was done on 2/8.

1. Determine the desired location for the new branches to emerge.
2. Ensure the scion can reach the spot, with plenty of room to run it through the trunk.
3. Find a long drill bit that will make a hole slightly bigger than the scion.
4. Drill the hole in the opposite direction the scion will travel through. The entrance hole is cleaner than the exit hole, and the cambium must be in good shape on the side where the scion will emerge and ultimately join to the trunk.

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5. Thread the scion through the hole and ensure viable buds aren’t scraped off as the shoot passes through. Also ensure that viable buds emerge close to the trunk, so the first node isn’t too far out.

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6. Using a small twig from the same tree, wedge it in on one side of the scion to ensure good contact at the trunk/scion union on the other side.

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7. Apply cut paste around the hole to keep it from drying out.

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Complete:

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Published by Brian VF

I have been studying bonsai since 1994, in an ever-increasing obsessive fashion. In our last 5 years prior to moving from Iowa to Alabama pursuing a career in the foodservice industry, my bonsai collection was limited to a few varieties that could survive brutal winters outside, or winters under dim light in the dank basement of our humble duplex...my wife puts up with a lot. Including the trailer hitch I put on our brown 1983 Chrysler New Yorker to pull a U-Haul full of trees to Nashville for a 3-month stop along the career path that led us to Alabama. 12 years later, we no longer have the New Yorker; and not a single one of those trees remain on my bench, having given the last holdout to a new club member this summer. I prefer collecting native trees and buying the classical species used in Japan, feeding organic, and reading everything I can get my hands on.

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5 thoughts on “Thread-grafting arakawa maple”

  3. “This arakawa maple is a layer of a larger tree that is no longer in my collection.”
    Can we see a picture of the original tree?

    Reply

  4. Hello, thank you for this good article. I must do this opératioh on my momiji shohin next year. It will help me very well. For the moment, I’m waiting for my branch to grow :p

    Reply

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