T-bud grafting peach trees

There are lots of YouTube vids on this ...that's how I learned, but here are some erganomic tips from my grafting table.

1. Mosquito control...that's a little metal pot burning cedar chips.  That smoke blowing across my ankles and knees is a lifesaver.

2.  My favorite grafting tape is common teflon tape because it doesn't tear the bark when I take it off.  A half wide strip of electrical tape is great to secure the teflon tape.

3.  I de-pot my trees and set the ball on an upside down bucket so I can work at eye level and minimize anything that interferes with wrapping the tape

4. I keep my water bucket on top of two other 5 gallon buckets to minimize bending over when i repot the grafted tree and water it.

It was time for the much anticipated unwrap.   I was super stoked at how healthy grafts to my in-ground wild apricots.   In fact, the potted trees looked so marginal that I'm ready to skip potting from now on.  It seems much better to plant the pits to the ground and graft them the next year.  These are older, so I made grafts higher up on the branches.

It will be some work to keep the wild suckers removed, but I'm looking forward to having multiple varieties on the same root stock

Excellent to see you thinking about ergonomics and setting up an efficient workspace. I try very hard to protect my wimpy back, and setting things at a good working height is a big part of that.

Sometimes I also make task-specific tool belts to help, although more often, I just wear pants that I've added upcycled old cargo pocket to hold things in a handy spot!  

Simplifying things also seems like a great approach. If you graft onto trees started from seed in the ground, you aren't disturbing the roots at all! I wish I had better fencing and could try that approach, but alas, the deer pressure is intense and if they don't get the sprouts, the bunnies will instead!

When working on the ground, I often use some sort of mat and knee pads so I don't loose things into the grass/forbs/mulch. I'm also know to put some brightly covered rope on tool handles. It never fails to amaze me how my forked digger can just vanish when I take my eyes off it for 3 seconds?

I hope your bud grafts all take, and hopefully, you will post pictures next year of the results?

yes,  mats/rugs ...great idea.  ...easier to see a hoard of attacking ants coming ;-D