MATCH: Stanley orchardist Charlie Showers demonstrates to Benalla’s Janelle Duffy whip-and-tongue grafting of an apple scion on rootstock. PHOTO: Jamie Kronborg

MASTER orchardist Henry Hilton shared his keen commercial experience with budding horticulturalists, aborists and gardeners at an apple- grafting workshop in Stanley on Saturday.

The principal of Snowline Fruits joined Beechworth Food Co-op and Black Barn Farm, where Charlie Showers and Jade Miles are reworking and replanting an old orchard on Stanley’s edge, to present a hands-on short course in fruit propagation – part of a continuing series of workshops to foster local food network development.

Mr Showers and Mr Hilton talked to the 15 participants from Myrtleford, Benalla, Albury, Eldorado and Beechworth about the objectives, history and practice of grafting and its benefits, such as the replication of reliable fruiting varieties which have distinctive taste, production or keeping qualities and disease, pest or cold resistance.

Mr Hilton said grafting enabled a producer to create multi-graft trees from scratch and an ability to add a new fruiting variety to an existing tree.

It also allowed for the rapid reproduction of a sought-after variety, could speed fruiting time and be used to repair damage.
But it could only succeed within species – with genus malus (apple) grafts compatible only on malus rootstock, just as genus pyrus (pear) grafts grow successfully only on pyrus rootstock.

Mr Showers said rootstocks offered a range of advantages, from disease and insect resistance to dwarfing, hardiness, high yields, drought tolerance and rapid growth.

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