Bill wrote:

In article , says...
And I'm sure that I'm entitled to state my opinion. The fact that he is in business
is
no endorsement that he is giving out good advice. His theories on dwarfing trees is
way out of line with common knowledge in universities and research stations. Just
check the web on how much research is put into dwarf rootstocks and how many
huge numbers of them are being used by fruit growers throughout the world. I have
been growing dwarf fruit trees for almost 20 years and have not seen any of the
problems he claims are inherent in their nature. It's true a dwarf tree may only
live to
be twenty years or more, whereas a standard tree can live much longer. What he fails
to mention is that standard trees are much more difficult to maintain and harvest,
and take longer to yield their first crop. By the way, what is your expertise in
these
matters or are you just defending the poor guy?

Sherwin




Same as yours. I have grown and am presently growing semidwarf and dwarf
fruit trees. I've tried his method; it works. Do the trees compete for
resources? Yes. Does pruning them as he suggests keep there production down?
Yes. The whole Idea is to keep the trees small and managable with a
manageable amount of fruit. If you have a small yard and want a variety of
fruit without having to throw or give most of away because you can't use it
this is one way to go. If you've got a couple of acres, by all means, spread
them out. Just be prepared for all the fruit you're going to get.

The OP was asking if he had enough spacing for his trees. I posted a
reference to show that trees can be planted closer than the spacing he had
used.

Not by pruning, but by selecting the proper rootstock.

Merely that. Last I looked, universities and research stations were
much more interested in helping farmers and agribusiness that they were the
backyard gardener.

In this case, the technology helps both for somewhat different purposes.
The ease of maintenance helps the commercial people as much as the home
gardener. The two groups need not be at cross purposes.

You probably don't think much of square foot gardening
either, do you?

You are trying very hard to stereotype me. I do practice square foot gardening,
but I fail to see the connection here. We both agree on the benefits of using
dwarfing rootstock, but you were defending this Dave Wilson Nursery who
thinks summer pruning is the only way to control tree spacing in the home
orchard. A friend of mine has a small city lot and has almost 100 dwarf trees
on M27 rootstock in his backyard (they are only about 6 feet tall). Check
out his backyard on www.midfex.org. Dave Wilson Nursery
even lists the characteristics of M27 rootstock and comes to this strange
conclusion anyways. Summer pruning is mainly used to open up a tree and rid
it of suckers and crossed branches, not size control. Severly pruning a fruit
tree will produce an ugly tree and cut down yield appreciably. Fruit production
should be controlled by thinning, not pruning.

Sherwin



Bill
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