Some of us don't want a whole tree full of apples all ripe at the same
time. I wanted an apple tree that started ripening in late July and
finished ripening in October. Here is how I accomplished it:
From a local nursery, I bought two
apple trees that were growing in nursery cans (bare-root would have been
fine but nurseries near here don't offer bare-root tree). These were two
varieties that I wanted to have fruit from. I planted them 20' feet apart
and, the following Spring, I sheared both off at about 18" above the graft.
The tree's immediate response was to produce a flurry of new sprouts and,
throughout the following growing season, I continually removed any sprouts
that grew from below the graft.
The following Spring, I ordered scion wood. My objective was to have
fruit ripening starting in Late July, then Early August, Mid-August, Late
August, Early September, Mid-September, Late September and Early October
(Here in zone 3 we can expect really hard frost in October so later ripening
apples are out of the question).
First, I selected the branch that I wanted to keep, the original apple
variety. Then I selected three other branches that were as close to 90
degrees apart from each other as possible and grafted the scions on these
three. All other branches/sprouts were removed. It took a three tries to
get one scion variety to take. Now I enjoy ripening apples for over a two
and one half month time span. I have since planted other apple trees but
these two are my favorites and the branches are all 4" in diameter.
One potential problem with making a four-on-one tree is that each branch
is very close in height to the others and we are warned that high winds
could easily(?) split such a tree. That hasn't happened (yet?) even though
a nearby maple tree was snapped in half by straight-line winds.
Jim Fruth
Brambleberry Farm
Pequot Lakes, MN 56472
For jams, jellies & syrups:
www.bberryfarm.com
(877)265-6856 [Store]
(218)831-7018 [My Cell]
[NAFEX] Make a four-on-one apple tree,
Jim Fruth, 07/22/2007