Has anyone tried "Backyard Orchard Culture" in Canada?
This is a method of high density fruit planting developed by a nursery in California. Basically you stuff up to 4 trees, 18 inches apart, into a hole, of the same kind but different variety (so like 4 different plums). You would prune them aggressively to ensure they do not get too tall, branch appropriately, and have airflow in the middle. SO instead of a giant tree you risk your safety climbing up a ladder, you maintain it around 8 feet tall.
Reason for this is if you follow traditional methods, you get one giant tree that fruits for a week, which would overwhelm you with fruit. BOC means you have smaller, manageable trees, and because you have different varieties, you would have fruit throughout the summer instead of a week or two.
I've only come across people doing this in California with success, which is much warmer and sunnier than southern Ontario. I wonder if anyone had any success with this approach here? Those "pick your own" apple orchards here do follow a similar philosophy, with rows of small apple trees spaced very close together. But I'd like more than just apples, I have a decent sized yard and would like clumps of plum, pear, asian pear.
This article gives a good overview: https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/backy ... d-culture/
The other alternative is a 4-in-1 tree, which also requires some maintenance but the downside is you can't choose your variety, and I assume 1 tree would not produce as much fruit.
Reason for this is if you follow traditional methods, you get one giant tree that fruits for a week, which would overwhelm you with fruit. BOC means you have smaller, manageable trees, and because you have different varieties, you would have fruit throughout the summer instead of a week or two.
I've only come across people doing this in California with success, which is much warmer and sunnier than southern Ontario. I wonder if anyone had any success with this approach here? Those "pick your own" apple orchards here do follow a similar philosophy, with rows of small apple trees spaced very close together. But I'd like more than just apples, I have a decent sized yard and would like clumps of plum, pear, asian pear.
This article gives a good overview: https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/backy ... d-culture/
The other alternative is a 4-in-1 tree, which also requires some maintenance but the downside is you can't choose your variety, and I assume 1 tree would not produce as much fruit.