Harvesting pecan scionwood

      All this week, I've been busy cutting pecan scionwood from trees that were specifically trained to produce long one-year-old shoots. The photo at right is just one of several scionwood trees I have growing near my home. Notice the many long, light-colored shoots produced by this tree especially at the top of the canopy. The pruning technique I used to create this rapid shoot growth has an old world name -- pollarding.

    The radical pruning of a tree (pollarding) is an ancient practice use to produce long limber sticks that could be used to weave fences to control grazing livestock, to make baskets or to burn as firewood. The Vincent Van Gogh painting at left depicts a typical rural scene of rows of pollarded trees. Pruning cuts were made above grazing height to prevent cattle, sheep, and goats from feeding on tender new shoots as their emerge in the spring.

 

     I've haven't taken up basket weaving in my retirement, but I still cut all the one-year-old shoots off my scionwood trees reminiscent of my European ancestors (photo at right). Once I get all the shoots to the ground, I then cut the shoots into 7-8 inch long scions.

   Pollarding pecan trees produces excellent scionwood. The shoots are vigorous, have widely spaced buds and have ample stored carbohydrates ensuring maximum graft success.

     As I cut the shoots into scions, I make certain that each stick has strong healthy buds. The photo at left shows the typical primary, secondary, and tertiary buds that can be seen above each leaf scar on a pecan twig. I always make sure to have at least two sets of buds near the top of each scion stick.

  

    The rapid shoot grow associated with pollarding pecan trees often stimulates the production of stalked buds (photo at right).  In preparing my scions, I always prune off stalked buds. These long buds often get broken off during storage and handling. If they remain, they can puncture the plastic bag used to store and ship scions increasing the potential for scionwood desiccation. As you can see in the photo, a strong secondary bud sits just below the stalked bud and will provide a great growing point for a successful graft.

       The photo at left illustrates the quality of scions cut from trees specifically pruned to grow vigorous one-year-old shoots. The larger diameter scions I typically use for 3-flap grafting. I like to use smaller diameter scions for bark grafting.