budwood

What is Budwood?

Budwood is like scionwood, a cutting from a apple variety, except it is from a branch that is actively growing instead of dormant. It is used for a type of grafting called budding that is usually done in mid summer while the tree and budwood source are actively growing instead of late winter when both tree and scionwood is dormant.

With budding (or bud grafting) only a single bud is sliced off and grafted onto the rootstock or host tree. This bud may stay dormant until the following spring, when the tree above the bud is pruned off in order to force the bud to grow and become the main trunk of the tree. Most trees in commercial nurseries are started this way.

There are a couple advantages to this type of grafting. If you're back east it means you can do the grafting in the nice summer instead of the frigid winter. Obviously we don't care about that, but another advantage is that if your bud graft doesn't take, you can have other chances at it since you don't prune off the host tree until the bud takes.

Bud grafted onto the host rootstock is starting to sprout

In the past it has been practically impossible for growers in Southern California to obtain budwood, as sources are hesitant to ship very far in the heat of summer, if you could find sources at all.

Our location means we can cheaply ship overnight so you're assured of receiving the freshest, most viable budwood available. We have over 90 varieties to choose from, and you can cheaply switch over that old Anna tree or rootstock you started from a seed to an excellent variety.

Budwood is available from July through November for shipment to Southern California. It is available July through August for shipment outside California. Our book Growing Apples in the City can show you how to graft budwood and scionwood.

Click to see our Available Budwood Variety List

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The trunk above the grafted bud has been pruned off forcing the bud to become the new trunk.