Saving space - planting multiple fruit trees in one hole
Jul 14, 2014 8:38:13 GMT 10
beckles and You Must Enter A Name like this
Post by StepfordRenegade on Jul 14, 2014 8:38:13 GMT 10
Saving space - planting multiple fruit trees in one hole (also the easier way of getting your own "fruit salad tree")
I was looking around for a "fruit salad tree" (tree with different varieties of fruit grafted onto the one rootstock) to maximise the amount of variety I could get out of my yard without sacrificing space for an orchard. I was getting a bit disheartened because they all seemed pretty expensive, and a bit "delicate." I stumbled across this video which explains the cheat way of getting one - just plant multiple plants in the one hole. Apparently they are hardier than a real fruit salad tree as well.
For those of you who don't want to watch the video, here are some of the main points:
Yesterday we did this with 2 citrus trees, I'm excited (and a bit nervous) to see how they go.
I was looking around for a "fruit salad tree" (tree with different varieties of fruit grafted onto the one rootstock) to maximise the amount of variety I could get out of my yard without sacrificing space for an orchard. I was getting a bit disheartened because they all seemed pretty expensive, and a bit "delicate." I stumbled across this video which explains the cheat way of getting one - just plant multiple plants in the one hole. Apparently they are hardier than a real fruit salad tree as well.
For those of you who don't want to watch the video, here are some of the main points:
- Choose plants that are the same "type" and have the same needs for nutrition, sun, water, and pest control in the one hole. E.g. multiple citrus trees, or varieties of apple, or stone fruits.
- You can also plant say, 3 orange trees, but choose varieties that will fruit at different times, e.g. early, middle and late season ripening. That way you have an extended fruiting period and won't have as much excess all at once
- Watch out for one plant lagging behind or taking over - try and pick plants that are roughly the same size, or you can prune or fertilise accordingly to make sure they stay relatively even. If you start with one plant that is smaller, plant that one where it will get the most sun so the other trees don't block it as they grow.
Yesterday we did this with 2 citrus trees, I'm excited (and a bit nervous) to see how they go.
