How deep to plant grafted rootstock/appletree?

[Holleg44]

I was wondering how high above the soil that my graft union should be. I have the roots covered with soil, and mulched around it. My graft union is about 5 inches above the soil. Is that too high?

[lordkiwi]

there is already a thread that might cover your question

Good or bad to plant trees with graft below soil?

Some people seem to do this to encourage a tree to grow on it’s own roots. Other people say this can cause rot and hurt/kill a tree. But those two ideas seem to be at odds with each other. Is it that only some types of trees are likely to grow their own roots?

[SuperG]

I’m not that knowledgeable yet I have read some, so take this with a Deer-lick of salt:

Height above the ground really shouldn’t matter overall. The higher your union I suppose the greater the chance for shoots to sprout off the rootstock, but not only is it relatively unlikely, you can simply maintain that with a clipper. Otherwise, it’s mostly a visual appeal thing. Some say the longer the rootstock the more of the properties that get passed to the scion but I don’t know if that is anything more than conjecture. I’d wager your bigger concern is making sure the roots are sufficiently buried that they form a strong base for your tree.

All of my grafts are are about 10-12" up the rootstock so that if they failed I could just nip it and try again.

YMMV.