Plant Propagation Technique
Budding is a special form of grafting in which only a single bud of a desired variety with little or no wood is inserted into the stock. It is preferred to grafting for many species of plants, gives less satisfactory results with others, and works about equally well with still others. There is no general rule by which this decision can be made.
Though perhaps a dozen methods of budding are used in special cases, the one by which millions of plants are annually propagated is “shield budding,” so called because the scion bud is an elongated oval.
Budding is usually done outdoors from midsummer until early autumn, while the bark of the plants to be “worked” will readily separate when gently pried from the young wood beneath.