[Los Angeles, CA Permaculture] [Southern California Permaculture] fruit tree questions

[Sean Jennings]

Hey Joan,

I've seen lots of Multi grafts here in Sonoma.  Seems like the trick to
those is to prune back the vigorous grafts so the less vigorous grafts get
a chance to establish.  They seem to be growing pretty well.

As long as you understand pruning you can train them pretty easily.  I've
been lucky enough to have John Valenzuela as a mentor in that dept.
Espalier require pruning as hard as grapes, cutting back to a spur every
season.  You can prune trees back really hard, especially if you're
training them for a small space.  Just pick a bud going in the direction
you want and prune it at that point.

When I was in Malibu, I got a lot of my trees from OC nursery.  They were
mostly wholesale, but you might be able to get them to sell to you.
Purchasing bareroot is best, but it's too late for this season.  When ou
get a new tree, you should really prune them back hard.  You can make any
plum into the fan shape, just prune it back.  You can make any tree a dwarf
if you don't mind pruning it back hard.  Alex Silber at Papaya Tree Nursery
in Granada Hills can be a great resource as well as Exotica in SD.

As for Ice Cream bean, I've had these in Hawaii.  They're OK, but not my
fav.  They can get big, they produce Nitrogen.  I used to prune them really
hard every season and use them as a chop and drop for my other trees.
Handy to have around.  Chickens like them.  They may take more water than
you want to give them though.  A better local N-fixer could be Carob,
ceonothus, acacia,catalpa, locust, etc.  Good luck on your new plantings!!!

Say hello to LA for me!!

On Wed, Apr 8, 2015 at 3:27 PM, Joan Stevens <mamabotanica at sbcglobal.net>
wrote:

> Got a bunch of questions as I plan and plant my new space: Planning on
> doing fruit trees espaliered or fan shaped along back (S facing) and side
> (W facing) walls - not a huge amount of space so want to be very efficient
> with plants.
> How well do multi-graft trees do?
> I am considering trying to find multi-graft plum and cherry to graft the a
> couple varieties to get the pollinizers present without having to add
> trees.
> and how hard is it to learn to train fruit trees?  It will be my first
> time.
> Also where the heck do I find these specific trees?
> Minnie Royal with Royal Lee on dwarfing root stock?
> 2 or 3-in-1 dwarf plum fan trained or ready to train?
>  I am in Pasadena and nearby nursery pickings are mostly boring and not
> necessarily low chill.   and ANYONE have info about ice cream bean?  I have
> one that's been in a pot for years and am wondering if it's worth the space
> to move it over to the new place.  I don't even know what the fruit tastes
> like.
> Thanks!
> Joan
>
> "There is one, and only one, solution, and we have almost no time to try
> it. We must turn all our resources to repairing the natural world,and train
> all our young people to help. They want to.
> We need to give them this last chance to create forests, soils, clean
> waters, clean energies, secure communities,stable regions, and to know how
> to do it from hands-on experience"
> "...the greatest change we need to make is from consumption to production,
> even if on a small scale, in our own gardens. If only 10% of us do this,
> there is enough for everyone.
> Hence the futility of revolutionaries who have no gardens, who depend on
> the very system they attack, and who produce words and bullets, not food
> and shelter."
>
>
> - Bill Mollison
>
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-- 
Sean Jennings
Certified Permaculture Designer/Installer

Rootstock Permaculture

707.495.0765 I www.rootstockpc.com
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