As we discussed in a recent blog, it’s important to use the right tool for the right job when it comes grafting a tree. Whenever you are cutting a tree for any reason, whether you’re trimming it with a Silky pruning saw or attaching scions with a Tina grafting knife, you always want to have a specialized tool that’s been made for the task at hand.

One important reason you want to use the right tool is that using the wrong tool can damage a tree during the pruning or grafting process. While cutting a tree in any way is technically damaging it, there are good ways to cut and bad ways to cut. Saws, loppers, or pruners that aren’t up to the task at hand can crack or strip a branch, creating damage that can be exploited by bugs, bacteria, and fungus. Here’s what you can do to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Buy Quality In The First Place

Using a cutting tool can cause it to wear out over time. Every time you cut something, microscopic amounts of metal are either worn off or compressed, causing it to become more and more dull.

The thing is, that happens at an increased rate when you grab a garden hand tool from the $5.00 bin at the discount store. They’re simply not using the same grade of steel that you’ll find from a quality tool, which means that you’ll lose the edge on them quickly. In order to keep the blade sharp for as long as possible, be sure to buy quality garden hand tools and tree grafting knives whenever possible.

Keep It Sharp

Every tool will become dull over time if used enough, which is why you’ll need to sharpen it in some way. The most obvious way is to do a sharpening stone, which is scraped against the blade in order to regain the sharp edge. This works very well on tools such as pruners, budding knives, grafting knives, and loppers.

Serrated saws are a different story. It’s not terribly cost-effective to resharpen a serrated saw, if you can find someone to do it at all. Most people end up simply recycling the old metal and purchasing a new saw. To saw a little money, you can also buy replacement blades for manual pole saws and other types of pruners.

Grafting Wax and Wound Paint

Once you’ve gotten your clean cut, you want to make sure that nothing gets into it to harm the tree. Damage to a tree allows opportunistic insects and other harmful agents to get into the body of the tree, which is why it’s often a good idea to use wound paint if you’re pruning. This seals up the tree’s wound while still allowing it to heal naturally. If you’re grafting, grafting wax is an excellent option to seal up the space between the rootstock and the scion.

Take Care Of Your Trees!

At Frostproof Growers Supply, we want to provide you with all of the tools you need to keep your trees as healthy as possible. Shop today!