A small branch with several buds suitable for T budding on it is often called a bud stick . This means that the vascular cambium is actively growing, and the bark can be peeled easily from the stock piece with little damage. Many deciduous trees are budded in late July or early August after the current seasons buds have developed fully and are dormant using field grown seedlings that have slipping bark. Bud sticks having plump, healthy buds are suitable scions. These budsticks should be on branches that exhibited good growth during the current season, rather than ones from the interior of trees that have slender stems and closely spaced, small buds.
Thick water sprouts that grew very vigorously are often poor scions.
Leaf blades are clipped from the budsticks, leaving the petiole intact. The bud and a small sliver of the wood underneath it are cut from the budstick using an upward slicing motion. A perpendicular cut across the top of the upward cut will separate it from the bud stick. Budding knives should be kept very sharp , so that as little damage as possible is done to the bud. Dull knives strip and tear the wood, leaving cuts that do not heal properly.