I USED to be fascinated by the deftness and speed of grafting fruit trees by the experts at Deacon's Nursery at Godshill.

Hardly surprising that they were very, very good as they often grafted not a single variety onto rootstock, but often several or multiple types of fruit and even nuts too.

They simply had to be quick for the enterprise to grow and flourish.

It is something I have never done, but 2020 is a year that I plan to add to my little orchard with the addition of interesting varieties by tinkering with a bit of graft — and I already have my eye on one tree.

The land beside railway lines, especially those which now have a new use, are often nurseries for new varieties, which have flourished from

cores tossed aside by passengers.

As we all know, many, many apple seeds can be planted and the resultant fruit will frequently be disappointing.

Cross-pollination is the luck of the draw – and, just sometimes, there is a winner.

Beside what is now the Cowes-Newport Cycletrack there are several apple trees.

As a regular walker there I have found some apples that are bland, some small, hard and bitter, some soft and woolly, but there is one that I plan, in February, to take some scions from and graft onto rootstock.

I have not yet been able to identify this particular apple, which is sweet, white-fleshed and crisp. It is delicious.

It is probably not a new variety but a slight variation of a recognised breed and I would welcome suggestions of just what it is.

Likewise, if readers have a special, unusual, variety in their garden, I would really love the chance to pop along in February and take a scion, the thickness of a pencil, both to preserve the variety and enjoy in the future.

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