It is so frustrating. Sorry that theses critters keep eating your fruit off your trees.
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@EmptyBadger ā¦ a good place to start on graftingā¦
Skillcult has a video seriesā¦ lots of details.
Others I watch on youtubeā¦
Stephen Hayes
JSacadura
Spend some time this winter watching those and others pn youtube.
Each year there is a grafting thread hereā¦ and there are some educational post here on grafting as well.
Get out and collect some scion wood (wild callery or bradford pear will do) and get started practicing.
If your knife skills are not all that goodā¦ you might invest in some of those gloves that keep you from cutting yourself. Each spring hereā¦it seems somesone or more gets a nasty cut grafting.
Grafting knivesā¦ do not have to be really expensive to work well enough for a starter.
The one I have been using the last 3-4 years cost around 10.00. Best I remember I got it at Fedco.
TNHunter
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Correctionā¦ got my grafting knife from AM Leonardā¦ and it was very inexpensive but does a good job. It sharpens well for meā¦ bevel on one side.
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@EmptyBadger ā¦ on the Early Mc and those pristine applesā¦ yesā¦ that does happenā¦ but not every year.
I never spray itā¦ and some years are bad for CM ā¦ and other years they seem to just forget it is there and it will have a load of very clean fruit.
2021 was a very good clean fruit year.
Below is the oldest picture I have of the treeā¦ that was 2015ā¦ and it was loaded with fruit. I was not a fussy fruit thinner in those days.
Zoom in on the fruitā¦ hundreds of absolutely pristine clean fruit. A good year for sure. They were just starting to ripen there mid June.
I will post a trade listā¦ probably late Decemberā¦ remind me you want some scions then. I will be glad to provide.
TNHunter
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Amazing, thank you so much for your detailed reply and kindness!
I planted 6 apple trees and 30+ pears trees in 2019 (grafted numerous others since then). I got 2 apples a couple years ago. Frost wiped out fruit a couple years and squirrels others. I think squirrels cleaned all my fruit trees already this year. Rabbits, I presume, girdled one of the apple trees. The grass and weeds growing around the trunk opened up the aluminum mesh around the trunk. Itās a pity too, because that was the most aesthetically pleasing apple tree with itās nice branching. Iām not sure if I should rethink this or double down and replant.
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Sorry to hear about those lost trees/harvests. Try Jujubes. Theyāre best described as small, especially sweet apples. They have far fewer insect pests and diseases in this country. Birds and squirrels would still be a problem, but jujubes flower in June, so late frosts will miss them.
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@blueKYstream ā¦ on the south side of my homeā¦ it gets all day sunā¦
I have a fig, cherry, 3x12 garden bed and a novamac apple espellar on b9ā¦ planted in a half whisky barrel.
My HVAC system is located on that wall tooā¦ so it is kicking on and off thruout the day.
My novamac espellar is located near itā¦ and so far no critters at all have bothered the apples. It is right next to the house and hvacā¦ and that seems to keep them away.
Out in my orchard i have my pear trees located in the center of my orchard clearingā¦ so it is a long way from the woods/(squirrel habitat) across open groundā¦ to get to the pear trees. Squirrels dont like crossing open groundā¦ owls and hawks and other critters can more easily attack them.
My dad had two pear trees in his back yardā¦ about 20 ft from the woodsā¦ squirrels wiped his pear trees clean of fruit every year. They got most of them when they were still small.
Trapping them helped but it was a constant battle.
TNHunter
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Most of my fruit trees are at my dadās farm about an hour away. I did get lucky and had callery pear and mulberry rootstock in my yard when I moved a few years ago. I have some pawpaws, aronia, gooseberry, figs, pears, mulberries, and serviceberry at the house. I donāt want any more closer to the house. Iāve already had squirrels in the attic and coons/deer/coyotes everywhere. I think I closed the squirrels out and/or eliminated the problem ones but theyāre never ending. Iāve watched hawks chase squirrels in my backyard when I worked from home. They do clean the mulberry and pears in the woods. The multi-graft pear closer to the house still has some fruit.
At the farm, everything was wiped out despite the woods being about 60 yards from the trees (my daughter dropped a doe at one of the apple trees and then shot her first buck when he came to check the doe before he ran to the edge of the woods and died) in the spot I checked. I havenāt checked the other locations that are closer to the woods in a bit, but frost got many of the blooms. I imagine its the same story there for any that did fruit.
The only thing that keeps me positive about the prospects is that perhaps when theyāre more mature and grow bigger quantities, maybe the squirrels canāt get the vast majority. That seems wishful thinking right now though.
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Already planning for spring 2026. Anyone else?
Hereās what I have on my wishlist so farā¦
Korean Giant pear on OHxF87
Shinko Pear on OHxF87 - (maybe graft Korean Giant onto this)
Kiwi Gold raspberry
Boreal series honeyberries - (one of each)
Currants - maybe Crandall, any suggestions?
Jujube - (two of the following)
- Honey Jar
- Sugarcane
- Bok Jo
- Black Sea
Anyone growing any of these varieties? Suggestions? Observations?
Whatās on your 2026 wishlist?