Do you have a rare favorite variety, an old fruit tree or shrub that you want to propagate or preserve for your children and future generations? In this video you will see how an over fifty-year-old apricot tree was saved after a storm split it in two. Half of the trunk of the poorly planted double tree split off, creating a wound measuring approximately 100x30 cm. The wound was cleaned, treated and a rejuvenation and lightening cut was made, which also balanced the one-sided overload of the crown. The following year, scions were taken and grafted onto myrobalan rootstock in the spring, which thrives in our garden with clay soil. The apricot tree, which produces beautiful, large and tasty fruits, will thus be preserved for future generations. We take the scions during the dormant period; the scions must not be overgrown. Grafts of stone fruits (peach, apricot, cherry, sour cherry, plum) and berries (gooseberry, gooseberry, currant) are taken around Christmas and New Year during the thaw, when it is not freezing. By mid-January at the latest, later they may be swollen, and they take root more slowly. You can learn more about taking cuttings of small fruits in the video "Propagation of currants and gooseberries" • Propagation of currants and gooseberries. Grafts of stone fruits (apple, pear, Asian pear, quince...) can be taken from December to the end of February, sometimes even in March (for the tree-to-tree grafting method). The grafts should be at least as thick as a pencil, 30-40 cm long. The most suitable and best-ripened shoots are on the sunny southern side on the outer part of the crown. It is ideal to remove one-year-old shoots with a few centimeters of two-year-old wood, which will prevent the graft from drying out (the two-year-old part is removed just before grafting). For older trees with small increments, it is necessary to perform a rejuvenation and lightening cut a year before taking the grafts, which will induce the formation of new strong annual shoots, from which we will take the grafts in winter. Until spring grafting, the grafts are best stored in a cellar with a constant temperature slightly above 0 °C (0 °C to 5 °C) stuck in moist sand in a container. In the video you can see: 0:00 introduction, current weather 23. 12. 2020, 9 °C, ideal conditions for taking grafts 1:11 example of an apricot grafted onto a myrobalan rootstock 2:09 example of an old apricot damaged by a storm; description of wound treatment and rejuvenation cutting as preparation for grafting 6:47 grafting from an old apricot tree after rejuvenation cutting in previous years 8:24 demonstration of the fusion of an apricot graft and a myrobalan rootstock after grafting using the English copulation method 9:28 marking the graft of a given variety; options for storing grafts 10:44 creating a mother plant to preserve the variety and regular grafting 11:07 selecting a suitable rootstock and its preparation for planting a tree 12:36 suitable periods for grafting stone fruit, small fruit and pome fruit 14:14 description of grafts suitable for grafting 15:59 old apple variety Matčino grafted on a seedling; difference between vegetative and generative propagation. In vegetative propagation, a new individual is created from a part (graft) of the original mother plant, thanks to which all the characteristics of the mother plant are preserved in the offspring. In generative propagation, a new individual is created from a seed, i.e., the offspring differs more or less from the original mother plant due to genetic variability. 18:01 weather conditions (un)suitable for taking grafts 19:22 sources of rootstocks for grafting 20:55 overgrown plum tree, plum overgrown with offshoots of myrobalan; use of the shoots for grafting and growing a new tree while maintaining the same characteristics of the original plum 22:18 selection of a suitable rootstock according to growth - e.g. the largest trees in pome fruit trees are rootstocks from seedlings - the crown of the trees is up to 10 meters in diameter (Croncelské apple variety), the smallest trees grow on weakly growing rootstocks (for apple trees, for example, M9 and J-TE-E rootstocks suitable for growing cuttings) The video was filmed on December 23, 2020. Links to videos on growing fruit trees and shrubs: I. Propagation of currants and gooseberries • Propagation of currants and gooseberries II. Gooseberry cutting • Cutting of tree and bush gooseberries III. Blackcurrant cutting • Cutting of blackcurrant IV. How to save a favorite fruit variety and taking grafts • How to save a favorite fruit variety... V. Raspberry cutting - how to harvest raspberries up to 6 months a year • Raspberry cutting - how to harvest raspberries up to ... VI. Blackberry cutting for harvesting quality fruits • Blackberry cutting for harvesting quality... VII. Propagation and planting of raspberries and blackberries • Propagation and planting of raspberries and blackberries Please write your questions and