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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Planting trees 2-3' apart

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  • From: "Donna &/or Kieran" <holycow@cookeville.com>
  • To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Planting trees 2-3' apart
  • Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 10:06:59 -0500

When I started out, I spaced my trees 20' apart. Fourteen years have passed and I'm now planting 10-12 feet apart and would recommend this kind of spacing to NAFEXers, or even closer depending on how much you are experimenting. I'm not the only NAFEXer to find that the trees I planted aren't what they were supposed to be, or the trees pine and die due to borers or whatever,or turn out to be unsuitable for the climate or the quality is not what I want. My rule of thumb has been for many years, for every mature tree you've got to plant 3 trees. How does the rhyme go for corn, "One for the something, one for the crow, one to die and one to grow." So with trees, one for the borers, one one to cull, and one to grow.
Take for example, the mayhaws that I planted 8 ft apart for a hedge like effect, very funny. One died and was replace with a plum which is cropping for the first time this year, at about 8 years old. One died last year and has a peach in it's place. One was too close to a big beech and has never grown. The other two spindly little trees cropped for the first time this year, at 13 years old, and we picked about a quart of fragrant rust distorted haws which I threw in a bucket of water to try to stop the rust from spreading to the cedars, and never got around to starting wine from them. Is there something I can topgraft on mayhaws? Donna




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