Jolene, all grafts took and are doing fine for two consequent years. I have an impression that sweet cherries are easy to graft. I graft early when buds are swelling and no leaves yet. There are always waves of cold weather at this time but they did not stop developing grafts, they all did well. Later I can post pictures of grafts.
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That decides it. I’m looking for buds and grafting soon.
Thanks so much for getting back with me on That!
Here’s hoping for success. 
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Hi Mamuang,
I moved those trees to another location in the garden. They are flowering nicely this year. I was wondering if it would be a good time to graft them. What do you think?
Naomi,
Your are in zone 8, a lot warmer than mine. If I were you, I would graft now. I’ve followed @Antmary’s approach and grafted cherry earlier at bud swell. It has worked out well.
We have an old tart cherry tree that’s just about played out, most of the fruit is way too high for us to pick, and the birds get them anyway. The lower branches are mostly dead or in poor condition.
The tree has two big trunks that branch off the main trunk. So, I’m considering lopping off one of those trunks and grafting some new tart cherry scions onto it. Will cleft or bark grafts work with tart cherry? And if so, when would be the best time do this?
Hi Bob,
The topic " Who are you going to call if you need 10 thousand grafts completed? " links to over 40 videos by Ken Coates specific to grafting cherries. Ken addresses all of those questions in various places.
Based on his videos and my own experience with plum topworking:
Cherry scion grafting should be done very early in the growing season. This precludes bark grafting since you would have to wait until later in the season for the bark to slip. Bark grafting is fine for apples, not so good for cherries. For topworking, Ken demonstrates what he calls a wedge graft and a side graft depending on the diameter of the understock. He makes the wedge graft look easy but it takes a lot of practice to cut the scion and the slot to the correct angles. If you can execute it, it works very well. I have had success topworking plum trees with his method.
Grafting low on the tree while a large amount of growth remains above the graft will result in very slow growing scions due to apical dominance. So grafting just one side of the tree is not recommended.
Trees over ten years old have higher odds of just outright dying when you attempt to topwork them.
Since your tree is worthless in it’s current condition I suppose you have nothing to lose. I would cut and graft both of the trunks and leave some of the lower growth (nurse limbs) until the scions grow out. The nurse limbs will help to keep sap from flooding your grafts.
If the scions don’t take but the tree still lives, it will almost certainly send out water sprouts that are prime grafting locations for next year!
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Thanks, Dan! I will take a look at those vids when we get home, out running around right now.
I am also considering doing the same to some old apple trees, that is, lopping off a trunk and grafting something new. Does that issue apply to any fruit tree? The tree I’m considering has three such trunks. If I have to do all three, would that be too much of a shock for the tree? And when would the best time be for a cleft or bark cleft, when the bark is slipping, as in May here, or before that when everything is still asleep?
I took a look at the vids that Ken Coates did. It’s funny because when I was looking for a vid on bridge grafting last week to repair a rabbit girdled apple of mine, I came across his version, but it was from another YT source.
I think I found his vid you were talking about regarding wedge grafts, was it day 26?
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Day 26 was mostly about bark grafting apples the previous spring because he didn’t have much video footage for that day. He only topworks cherries when the trees are still dormant, beginning end of February through March.
For smaller trees there is Side Grafting
and for apples Bark Grafting
Here is the Wedge Grafting Tutorial. Scions are 1/2" or greater diameter.
And a short video with simple explanation of how grafting is affected by Apical Dominance. Applies to all types of trees.
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As far as I remember he never explains why you should graft cherries early. I watched all of his videos and was particularly interested in this but got no answer. And if I remember correctly he did a late grafting job on cherries in a later video. His main concern then was to get enough grafting wood in ok condition, not so much the activity of the rootstock. He even used scions with buds already swollen. He mentions though thats not a good thing to do.
So I am in doubt his statement has anything to do with the activity of the rootstock and/or temperature but with quality and availability of grafting wood. Thats the impression I got from watching his videos. There is a lot of really good information in there.
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Good question.
He mentioned a problem with sap flooding the graft wound and “souring” when topworking cherry trees. Grafting during dormancy allows the scions some time to heal into the understock before the sap flow is in full force.
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Good info above, I like to graft my cherries in their later dormat stage till right as the buds start swelling. Cherries are relatively easy to graft and the wood is not really hard like peaches and apricots. Here are some grafts that I did in late February, right as the buds started to swell.
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I have a Black Tartarion and Lapin tree. This year I successfully grafted Van, White Gold, St. Francis, Bing, Sweet Treat Plueery and and several Plucots on them. I harvest all my own scions in late March and had luck with Omega, Cleft and splice grafts. Did the grafting when leaves started growing. Had about a 60% success rate. Getting a good match between the scion and the limb is the critical factor. I use a caliber to measure the scion and limb diameter to try and get an exact fit.
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Good Afternoon,
This year I will be attempting to bench graft cherry. So I bury the graft union below the soil?
No, keep it above the ground about 6 inches. Good luck!
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W&T or can a cleft work?
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Both will work done properly. The W&T is better, but do what you are most comfortable with. Whatever graft you do, make sure the green cambium, just under bark is matched on at least one side.
If scion and rootstock are of same size, either would work. If scion is smaller, use cleft. If scion is bigger, saddle graft may work.
You can still do a Whip and tongue if scion is smaller, called modified whip and tongue and is probably the most useful graft there is because of its diversity. Here are a few pictures…
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Good to know! I love how clean figs are for grafting!
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