Hi, I have a couple of questions regarding Mulberries: 1. I read that Morus rubra (the US native mulberry) only grows to 20' in the northeast - that it only grows to 50 or 70 in the south or mid west? I live in NJ and hope that the tree is a small one (as in around 20'). 2. Will the taste of Morus rubra's berries be significantly worse then the commercial M. alba x M. rubra hybrids, such as 'Illinois Everbearing'? 3. I really want(ed) to stick with the native variety (M. rubra), but don't want to significantly compromise on taste - could I graft a M. rubra limb onto my non-native M. alba x M. rubra hybrid (sapling) so that I have both varieties - I'll actually end up just keeping most of the tree M. rubra and only a single maintained limb of the original hybrid. 4. Will grafting the M. rubra onto the M. alba (x M. rubra) rootstock minimize the risk that M. rubra often experiences of root disease (spread by M. alba)? I figure that since the roots are not M. rubra's (at least I think they don't use M. rubra to do grafts) this would be an advantage. 5. Is M. rubra self-fertile - some sites say yes - and some say that it varies. I guess if it's female, the M. alba x M. rubra self-fertile limb would fertilize it. 6. Do you think that a 10' tall and wide Mulberry tree provides all the fruit one would want; if so, I might keep it pruned small. Thanks, Steve

Again, apples/pears - easy-peasy. I routinely graft good fruiting varieties onto 'volunteer' callery pear and crabapple seedlings popping up around the farm, courtesy of the birds. If you've got hawthorns... you can graft on fruiting selections... I have a number of mayhaws on native cockspur hawthorn - but they may not be suitable for a zone 5 setting. Have also grafted pears onto hawthorn understock - have one 'survivor' that's getting close to 15 years old now... Have seen reports that some serviceberry selections are sold grafted onto hawthorn understock. Mulberries - absolutely - good fruiting varieties are easily grafted/budded onto seedling understock. Walnuts...toughest thing I've ever grafted, with regard to success rates, but it can be done; just don't get disappointed with early failures. Shagbark hickory best for improved shagbark selections... as cuz'nFloyd said, it is graft-compatible with pecan, hican, shellbark, but those will outgrow the slower-growing shagbark understock. Persimmon? With all the others you've mentioned, surely you've got volunteer persimmons, too - seedlings work fine as understocks for improved fruiting selections. Osage Orange - will support the edible Che fruit (Cudrania tricuspidata). Don't forget about oaks; low-tannin, large acorn, or extremely productive selections have been made. Members of the white oak group graft readily onto other members of that group - though post oak (Q.stellata) is generally so slow-growing that it's not recommended as an understock. Red/black oaks can be grafted, but some issues with incompatibility are common. This post was edited by lucky_p on Wed, Dec 17, 14 at 0:01

In just one night, the calamondin grafted to lemon rootatock turned halfways black/brownish. After some inspection, it seemed to be a fungi attack. The graft were nicely healed in such a small time. The result: the plant went to the compost bin. New seeds are on the way, and after 24h two seeds have already germinated!! Mandarin 'Nova' from storebought fruits is the new rootstock plants. The mother calamondin plant is going absolutely crazy, way over 100 fruitlets and 50ish more flowers and buds still to go. But, new growth is going strong and vigorously which was my main goal for this season. Need to get some size for that poor little thing :) Although the grafts failed, which is always an option, this was good experience for the next grafting attempts!

Redneckgirl, you can start with any method of grafting you feel you can go with, but first practice the methods and making the cuts on any non fruiting plant, even simple willow branch from outside would give you the training :) It doesn't have to be attached to the tree, you just get the process of cutting them, aligning them and wrapping them right first and gain confidence.