Milehigh, This topic is very interesting to me, as I am making my first attempt at benchgrafts this spring. First, it seems that the term "benchgraft" is often used incorrectly here. Friends, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a benchgraft a graft that is made onto a rootstock that is not in the ground--literally on a bench? As Scott points out, nurseries are still producting trees this way. Here is a care guide for benchgrafts put out by Cameron: http://www.cameronnursery.com/education.htm I bought 20 rootstocks from Cummins this spring: 10 M7 and 10 G30. My goal is to save some heirloom varieties. I planted seven of the G30 in the garden immediately, with plans to bud them in August, as Cummings advised that G30 is not easy to benchgraft owing to it's brittle nature. The other 13 rootstocks I benchgrafted with whip and tongue or cleft. The dormant benchgrafts were then heeled into damp sawdust and kept cool and dark. I peeked at some of the trees after three weeks in the sawdust, and some of the buds are starting to push. Cummins strongly advised me to hold off on planting them until the threat of frost is past. I'm crossing my fingers for luck, but if any fail, I will have another chance with bud grafting in August. I am still debating about planting them into the garden or their ultimate location. It seems they will be needing plenty of care and moisture during the next months, but the downside of the garden step requires a transplant. Scott, your method of spring budding is very interesting. This is the first I have read of it. Are you budding onto the new growth or the old growth? I could use this method for my rootstocks already in my garden, couldn't I. Then try again in August if it fails? Marc "We should so live and labor in our times that what came to us as seed may go to the next generation as blossom, and what came to us as blossom may go to them as fruit." Henry Ward Beecher

The soap probably helps the water penetrate dry soil better (it has a surfactant to break water tension and makes water "wetter.") I think it's similar to how they are adding things to potting soil to make the dry soil wick up moisture more readily. It's been my experience that when someone hasn't just completely over-watered, they've under-watered because the soil got dry and when the instructions say "water until you see it running out of the bottom of the pot" they don't take into consideration a dehydrated and hydrophobic soil cube. This causes the water to rush out through the path of least resistance and causes small wet spots and dry spots which is lethal. I just read a story on GW about an Aglaonema that just kept "trying to die" when in reality it was just trying to live and the person's watering regimen was just killing it.

RC: I have been servicing his walk-behind mower every spring, and it works ok. I think he had his son using the tractor, and he probably gave it a cursory inspection (Is the seat dry? Is it wet? Are the wheels going around?) Probably pulled the dip-stick and saw lots of oil on it, and didn't second stick it after a wipe-off! And, it didn't look like anybody had oiled anything, nor cleaned the thing! TSK, TSK, TSK! (RJ)

This is something I haven't quite understood. I know that baby roses have sensitive roots, and as such can be easily burned by giving too much water soluble fertilizer. So the common advice is to just keep them watered until they put on growth before feeding them. And that's what I don't understand -- if they don't have nutrients in the soil, how can they build new roots? Peat-based potting soils with no added fertilizer amounts to not much more than something in which roots can seek water. Without additional N-P-K, there's no "building blocks" to make more roots. I took a different approach. I potted my bands last year in a nutrient-rich mix (equal parts peat moss, Bovung dehydrated manure, and shredded hardwood mulch), then mixed in Jobe's Organic Knock Out Rose food (1/2 cup for 1-gal containers, 1 cup for 2-gal containers), and gave each a soaking in half-strength fish and seaweed emulsion. They got lots of rain and sunshine from the beginning (we still get occasional frosts in April, when most of the bands came), and they grew by leaps and bounds (for the most part -- a few Hybrid Teas and Chinas took their time). If I got bands later in the year, when temperatures reached into the 80s and above, I'd offer dappled shade for a while and gradually acclimate them to full-sun. I understand the caution about applying Miracle Gro and similar water-soluble fertilizers which can burn tender new roots, but that didn't happen for me with the stuff I used. I started a thread about it last year, including pics. It worked for me. When the beds were ready for roses to go in the ground three to four months later, they all had roots running throughout the soil, making nice tight root balls that slipped right out of the pots without crumbling. :-) ~Christopher P.S. Note that the 'Sweet Chariot' shown turned out to NOT be that rose. It's some sort of Multiflora-derived rose which was not at all appealing when it bloomed this year in a big pot and will eventually meet the shredder. Here is a link that might be useful: Some before and after showing growth so far