North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["kieran or donna" <redherring@tnaccess.com>]

Wow, I went and looked, they are really talking about 4 trees, 18" apart
from each other.   I am sure this has something to do with droughty
conditions, like the "Keyhole gardens" in Africa.  Plus high land prices in
CA, so yards are small, right?  I'd think it could work fine with some
plums, peaches, and maybe pears.  Not so good with apples unless they were
truly on dwarfing rootstock AND you kept them pruned like you are supposed
to, so you can see daylight through each tree.  (Actually, you're supposed
to be able to shoot an arrow through the tree)  I suspect that a dry climate
would be helpful for this kind of planting, as here we'd have more fungus
diseases with our much higher humidity.  It makes me think of the "Japanese
tomato ring", in which a 12 ft length of fencing makes a 4 ft circle, and 7
tomato plants are planted around the outside.  This is my favorite way of
growing tomatoes, as water, compost, and fertilizer for all 7 plants goes in
the middle of the ring.  A ring of trees would also give you a nice cool
shady little area in the middle.  Thanks for the link, Spidra.  Food for
thought, though I'm not sure it would work here.  Donna
P.S.  Not only can you grow more varieties in a small backyard with the "4
to a hole" system, but Dave Wilson can sell more trees.