I have a young probably 3 year old A. palm. 'Shaina' which is growing very nicely. When I was looking at it the other day I noticed that the scion is at least twice as big as the stock and looks like it is growing over/around it. Is that going to be a problem down the road? What causes this to happen? My second question has to do with conversations I read or see advertised about a maple having a "high graft or a low graft" making it sound good or bad. I was wondering what determines the height of the graft? How does the grower decide when he/she is grafting maples? Is there a reason to look for a high or low graft on specific cultivars? Kay Dye
Some growth differences can occur between the understock and the scion, however that generally isn't a big problem in the long term as they are both palmatums and their growth differences shouldn't be so different as to cause problems. Circinatum cultivars grafted onto palmatums can present longterm problems because the circinatum scion develops nearly twice the caliper of a palmatum. As for high/low grafts, some nurseries prefer grafting dissectums up high on the understock (generally 12-36"). This allows the nursery to "cheat" and get a taller tree faster without much staking. I prefer low grafted dissectums because in time they make a more "natural" looking tree, plus you don't have to contend with removing any suckers growth from the understock. Dwarfs are also sometimes high grafted to get a pom-pom look. Best of luck. Brian
