North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Donna &/or Kieran" <holycow@cookeville.com>]

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