We moved just outside of town to a “country” lot a few years ago. My wife and I like to garden, and I wanted more space to plant the fruit trees I graft each year.

A grafted apple tree costs about $5 if you’re willing to work for free and start from scratch. Rootstock, which determines a tree’s size, and scion, which determines the tree’s fruit, are mated with a variety of joints, cleft is easiest, and paraffin tape seals the wound. The thin layer of green cambium is the only part of a dormant tree that’s truly “alive” and that’s the important part to match when you’re working on a graft.

A few fresh grafts, ready to be potted.

Sewing my thumb onto your finger doesn’t make a new person, but grafted apple trees are magical in a way that mammals are not. Fedco Trees in Maine is a great place to buy supplies if you want to give it a try.

In May, that $5 tree is typically $30 at Menards and far more if you go to the nursery or order online. Grafting is easy enough though and I’ve probably transplanted (and replanted) at least 70 trees in our grassy former cornfield.

A year later, this apple graft is ready to be transplanted. The saddle graft is clearly visible on the upper left stem.

Why so many? If my neighbor came over at night and pruned the trees down to the grass, I could certainly call the sheriff or sue for damages, but fortunately, my neighbors are nicer than that. What about the deer though? Who bears legal responsibility for the trees they’ve damaged, destroyed, or stunted over the past 8 years? I’ve probably sent a few hundred on coils of galvanized fencing and fiberglass stakes to make tree cages, but they only partially work. The DNR says I should put up an 8 foot fence, but oddly, I don’t have to put up a castle wall around my orchard to prevent my neighbors from damaging the trees.

Hunting is supposed to control deer populations, but this spring I’ve seen plenty of 10 deer herds on the three mile drive into town. In the first year after CWD culling finished in zone 646, I saw more that 40 deer grazing on that same 3 mile drive. Who bears legal responsibility for all the damage deer do to my apple trees?

Sour cherry scion cleft grafted onto Mazzard rootstock.