Sometimes, when I’m driving between Langley and Chilliwack, I notice fruit trees growing along the roadside—especially apples. I wish I wasn’t always in a hurry so I could stop and taste the fruit from these trees, likely sprouted from a core tossed out of a passing car or dropped by a crow. I wonder what their parentage is and how they taste. Whizzing by at 100 km/h, I see healthy trees with appealing fruit and can’t help but be curious.
What if I stopped and discovered an apple far superior to any I’d ever tasted? I’d want to share it, and the fastest way would be through grafting. Growing from seed takes years, and the fruit won’t be the same. Rooting cuttings can work, but for apples, grafting is best. It preserves the variety and offers other benefits: controlling tree size, improving disease resistance, and speeding up fruit production to just a few years.
Technology has made life faster, but in some ways, it’s taken away simple joys—like stopping to pick a roadside apple. Next time I see a tree full of fruit, I think I’ll listen to that little voice urging me to stop. Who knows? It might be the best apple I’ve ever tasted. And if it is, I’ll be grateful for the age-old practice of grafting that lets me share it with my friends!
Join us for our Apple Tree Grafting Workshop with Jerome Ter Haar, March 8, 2025.
