Budding season and the knife built for it
Rose and fruit nurseries still rely on budding, a form of grafting in which a single bud, with a sliver of bark attached, is slipped under the bark of a rootstock in summer, when the bark lifts away easily. The technique called for a dedicated tool: a keen straight blade for the incision, and a thin, flat end for easing the bark open.
This teak keychain shrinks that pattern to a 4.5 cm stainless blade and a 5.5 cm handle with a brass bolster and brass pins. It is a real grafting knife in miniature, light enough to carry daily and handy for the small cuts that turn up in a garden every week.
