Lyne wrote:

Hi.

I have a great book about plant propagation but it doesn't really get
into "troubleshooting".

I had a very healthy apple tree about a year old. I understand that
deer like to rub against the trunks to rub off their velvet. They
managed to break off the trunk leaving all of the good stuff in one
piece on the ground and there is enough bark-covered stump remaining
that I think I can do a graft.

The question is, how?

I stuck the broken treetop in soil with starter fertilizer. I could
not decide whether it was better to leave the frayed end or cut up to
where there was a bump so I left it like it was. It isn't rooting but
it isn't dead either. I've been misting the leaves and branches.
What's next?

Any help would be great, thanks!

Oh yea - I tied deoderant soap to the one tree that escaped attention.
So far, so good.

Remove SPAMDEFENSE in address to reply.

You did not mention if your tree was grafted onto a rootstock, or it was
a full size tree without any grafts. If it was grafted, and it broke
below
the graft, you could restore the original variety with scion wood from
the top of the broken tree. I would check the broken piece to see if it
is still alive. You can scrape off some the bark and should see a green
layer called the cambium. If the color is brown, that part of the tree
is dead. If you can find a living branch, cut off one or two pieces
about
5 inches long to use as the top part of the graft. Cut the trunk of the
tree in the ground (below the graft if one is there) at least one foot
from
the ground, if this is possible, with a horizontal cut. It is hard to
give
you more details without diagrams, but you need to cut a slit in the
bottom
part of the tree and slits in the two scion pieces cut earlier. You
then
insert the scion pieces into the base slit lining up the earlier
mentioned
cambion layers so that you maximize their contact with each other. You
have
to then wrap this graft together (rubber bands work) and seal it with
something
like candle wax, and hope for the best. This is just a crude
description of
the grafting process, so you may want to go on the net and look for info
on
a 'cleft' graft, to get more details. If there were any surviving
branches
left on the tree, after it broke, you can bend these upward and train
them
to become the new leader. If you cannot get scion off the broken
section
of the tree, if you know the variety of apple, you can order that
variety
of scion wood (again, check the net), and graft that as explained. I
don't
know what climate you are in, but with Sinter coming, if you order any
scion,
you probably need to wait till next Spring for this operation.