I discovered this web page the other night in a hunt for an apple variety and thought others might find it as inspiring/interesting as I have.
This gentleman has grown 97 apple trees in quite a modest size lot by making them all mini-dwarfs.
I would love to hear comments and thoughts of others in this group on what he's done, because I found it personally very inspiring and encouraging considering my limited space for growing.
http://www.midfex.org/yale/intro.html
Cyndi
Cyndi, thank you for sharing this site. I was taken - and hooked! I've got acres to play with, but have often been envious of those on 'controlled' city lots; where they aren’t contending with escaped horses or cattle, raccoons, porcupines, beaver, deer (deer and more deer!), elk or Bears! And the only way one could get away with mini-dwarf trees around here would be behind a good fence - not 42 inches - more like 7 feet! But I grew up in the city, Portland, and was always impressed (still am) at those making the most of their yards for food production. Talk about value added!
That was a fascinating tour and very well done. I don't see any potential problems with his refined methods. I kept thinking, Bonsai! I strongly advocate yearly pruning; once you establish a framework, it's like sculpting. You can keep an apple tree to just one bud's growth a year if you're so inclined. And in Gene’s case, if you want to look at 'big trees' - just lay down between them!
Thoughts: it's interesting he named two NW nurseries, Bear Creek and Raintree as (one time) excellent sources for "bench grafted" apple trees. My other 'favorite Nursery' is Oregon's own, One Green World. But I don't know if anyone's selling bench grafted trees? ...Other than the good ol Home Orchard Society! I found Gene’s method of establishing their structure interesting; he goes for a 'central leader,' whereas I go for an 'open vase' shaped tree. I've seen the 'cloths pin' method used to establish lateral limbs ... I'm now smiling 
envisioning his tiny limbs... His method of removing competing buds to force the direction of eventual limbs is interesting too, if more Bonsai. I expected to hear about "Interstems," the "M27/M111" combination. It was also interesting to find it gave him too large a tree - and that he now prefers M27 or P22 rootstock with a "mature height" of only 3 feet. Munchkin Land!
But everything looks good, and all his advice is sound, in my opinion. Gene sounds like one of us! Is this a plan you're interested in Cyndi? If so, the HOS looks like a great resource!
Kuffel Creek sells 80 varieties of apples available as bench grafts.
http://www.kuffelcreek.com/app.....ursery.htm
Oh, I'm so glad you found this do-able and sound! I keep finding more and more tree fruits I want to try, but I'm so new to this that I just didn't know if it was realistic for someone who actually wanted fruit, not just pretty ornamentals.
For my purposes, I'm looking for real food provision, my boys are allergic to EVERYTHING and eat nearly exclusively fresh fruits & vegetables. So I'm looking to really grow our own food in the most sensible way in a city size lot.
I'm so new to all of this that I wasn't sure exactly how to begin. Can you educate me on what "bench grafted" means? Is there another type of grafting? The trees I'm waiting on are coming from Big Horse Creek Farm http://www.bighorsecreekfarm.c.....eoffer.htm . Is this what you mean? Or something different? So much for me to learn....
From my reading and study, I think I prefer your way of pruning into an "open vase' shaped tree. I wanted to emulate what Gene did, but wanted slightly larger trees, do you think I'd be safe with M7 rootstock?
I'm going to go over to the arboretum next Tuesday to volunteer my time and maybe learn a few things 
" title="Laughing" /> Looks like I've got lots to learn.
Cyndi
Cyndi, "I keep finding more and more tree fruits I want to try" -- keep in mind, he only uses apple trees. I believe it was due to their ultra dwarfing capabilities... It sounds like you want more than 'just' apples. With kids too, I've found the length of season, variety, fresh storage, and processing abilities very important. But I'm not sure how much room you have?
I'd want a multi-grafted Japanese plum tree; a couple of apples, a multi-grafted pear, an Interlaken seedless grape, an Italian prune, a nonastringent persimmon (Fuyu type), and fuzzy kiwi's. Talk about homework! You could trellis the grapes and kiwi along any exposed location receiving full sun, and keep the 'trees' under control with judicious pruning or espaliering.
"I'm looking to really grow our own food in the most sensible way in a city size lot." -- And I'd leave space for a vegetable garden (with full sun) too... Fruit's a nice desert, but parsnips are almost 'meaty.'
"Can you educate me on what "bench grafted" means? Is there another type of grafting?" -- quick description: bench grafting is working with a tree out of the ground, thus dormant and relatively small; the high-production method of yesteryear. "Top working" is changing over a mature tree to another variety. "Budding" is inserting a 'fresh' bud under the bark during the growing season, around August; it's the high-production method of today! ...though we make our trees the old fashioned way, bench-grafted. There are lots of other healing and repair "bark grafts," but you need trees first~
"The trees I'm waiting on are coming from Big Horse Creek Farm http://www.bighorsecreekfarm.com/whatweoffer.htm . Is this what you mean?" -- That's great. Nearly as good as having them grafted by 'us.' I see they're using a 'machine,' no problem, if you know how ... whereas we do it by hand with a whip & tongue graft. So, they graft it, grow it, and ship it in the Fall... If it's virus free, that sounds OK.
"do you think I'd be safe with M7 rootstock?" I'm not 'our rootstock expert,' but "Seven" sounds fine to me. If you really get into it, you can match the scion's (your eventual variety) vigor to a more or less restrictive rootstock. There are charts for that. I like a vase shaped tree because they're easier to climb into and seem to allow more sunlight to the northern most limbs... And. they're easy to tie to the steel posts I need to protect them from deer.
I found this on M.7: "M.7 has a number of weaknesses, well documented because of its widespread use. It produces numerous root suckers that must becut each year. It has a tendency to lean on some sites. (Red) Delicious on M.7 is a very poorly rooted tree, so M.7 is not recommended for Delicious. Why use it, what with all these problems? M.7 performs. It tolerates a wide range of soil types, including some that are too wet for most other rootstock choices. It is tolerant of collar rot, a major soilborne disease of apple. And most cultivars grafted on M.7 are very fruitful. I recommend M.7 for marginally drained soils or in situations where the site is questionable - if a tree as large as M.7 is not a problem. It really should be staked to provide leader (trunk)"
"I'm going to go over to the arboretum next Tuesday to volunteer my time and maybe learn a few things" -- Good move! Say Hi to Karen for me! Check out the diversity ... if you can do blueberries - do! And I forgot to mention Figs above! Either a Desert King or a Brown Turkey, or both! Mid summer ... I miss it already 
Cyndi,
The trees offered by bighorsecreekfarm are 1 year whips (or nearly so since they ship in the fall). They are created by bench grafting as their pictures indicate, by use of a machine like Viron said. But they likely do that in early spring and then grow the tree for 6 months or so into a single whip. They then dig it up when dormant and ship it to you.
At the Home Orchard Society they will directly sell you the bench graft. Either one is just fine. Generally getting the direct bench graft is less expensive, and also the quickest way to get a custom to order variety. Many experienced orchardists also claim that the younger/smaller you get the tree when you put it in its permanent location, the better off you and the tree will be. I think the big reason for that has to do with how well rooted of a tree you get. The older the tree, the more likely the nursery will prune off a bunch of the roots in order to make it more convenient to dig and ship.
From the pictures of bighorsecreekfarm the roots on their trees (at least the ones they chose to feature in the pictures on their website) look really excellent.
Oh My Goodness,
I just discovered this link to a video Gene Yale did this year of his backyard orchard. He now has 176 apple varieties in his yard!!! This man is my hero. I don't want only apple trees but how inspiring to see what this gentlemen has been able to do. It makes me believe that I can do it too. I just have alot to learn first. Check out this incredible video http://midfex.blip.tv/file/380680/
Cyndi
Idyllwild
jafar
Marsha H
Viron
John S
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