Veredelung von Rosen

The purpose of grafting roses is propagation. Many less experienced rose enthusiasts have great respect for grafting. However, it's actually not as difficult as it might initially seem.

Grafting is the process of joining two parts: a rootstock (usually wild roses), which has excellent growth qualities, and a scion (a cultivated rose), which boasts superior flowering qualities. The ideal result is a healthy, magnificently blooming cultivated rose.

Here's a step-by-step guide to grafting.

First, get your rootstocks from a gardener or nursery. Always buy a few extra, as it's wise to expect that not every attempt will be successful. This can be due to the rootstock or a technical error, but it's completely normal and happens even to professionals.

You should perform rose grafting in July and August. Plant the wild rose rootstocks, if possible, in the spring. Give them enough space, about 15 to 25 cm apart. The root collar of the wild rose needs to remain above ground and should be covered with mounded soil. For the actual grafting process, the root collar will be exposed.

Here's a step-by-step guide to grafting roses:

1. Select a Scion Shoot: Choose a shoot from your cultivated rose (the one with the desirable blooms) where the flower is fully open and just about to fade.

2. Cut and Prepare the Shoot: Using garden shears, cut off the selected shoot. Remove all the leaves, but be careful to leave about 1 cm of the leaf stalks remaining.

3. Remove Flower and Thorns: Next, remove the flower and any thorns from the shoot to prevent injury.

4. Extract the Buds (Eyes): This is the crucial step! With a very sharp knife, carefully remove the "eyes" (buds) from the shoot. They are located just beneath the remaining leaf stalks. Typically, there are 3 to 8 eyes on a shoot, and each eye can potentially grow into a new rose. Cut the eyes out very shallowly, about 1-2 mm deep, with a total surface area of approximately 2 cm. Try not to touch the eyes with your fingers and insert them immediately after cutting.

5. Prepare the Rootstock (T-Cut): Take your prepared and cleaned root collar of the wild rose rootstock. As the name suggests, make a horizontal cut into the bark of the root collar, followed by a vertical cut directly below it, forming a "T" shape. Gently peel back the flaps of bark created by the T-cut and insert the prepared eye. Then, carefully press the bark flaps back around the eye.

6. Secure the Graft: To prevent the eye from slipping and to protect it, bind the grafting site. You can use elastic rubber grafting tape for this. Caution: Do not tie it too tightly.

7. Mound the Rootstock: Finally, mound soil back around the rootstock, covering the entire grafted area.

After a few weeks, once the bud has successfully fused with the rootstock, it will begin to sprout. The following spring, remove any wild shoots growing above the graft point to ensure optimal growth. By summer at the latest, you can enjoy a blooming rose that you've grafted yourself!