From: krogers@javelin.sim.es.com (K. Rogers)
Subject: Dwarf apple trees
Summary: Here's some info on dwarf apple trees.
Reply-To: krogers@javelin.sim.es.com
Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 04:17:58 GMT

Guess I'll break down and spend 20 minutes writing a micro
introduction on dwarf apple trees as I understand the topic.

I bought my house 5 years ago.  It had three 30' apple trees in it.
The previous owners had a "professional" come prune it two years
before I bought it.  This pruning consisted of heading every major
scaffold limb.  When I got the trees they were a very discouraging
impenetrable thicket of water sprouts.  The house is 40 years old and
as far as I can tell the trees were planted right after it was
finished.  It took me 4 years to get the trees in decent shape again.
I did a last 50% branch reduction last spring and am now waiting for
the 3 years for spurs to develop and set fruit.  The amount of debris
to haul off was so huge I didn't even consider chipping it up.

I mention the above to point out *why* you want dwarf fruit trees and
to avoid virtually all "professional" tree services.  If you're
considering somebody to prune your trees ask them how they're gonna do
it.  If they show you how they'll head every major scaffold limb, as
most will, send your doberman after them.  Keep in mind most of these
yoyos are high school dropouts who barely know which end of the plant
goes in the ground.

You want dwarf trees because:

	They don't eat half the back yard
	They don't drop 18 bushels of wormy fruit you couldn't get at
	You can care for them easily as they're your height
	You can fit a jillion varieties in a small space
	If one dies you have many others left
	You can plan for eating and cullinary fruit for half a year

When looking for dwarf apples, the rootstock is of prime importance.
Extensive research has been done in England for hundreds of years on
this topic and most rootstock originated from there.  In particular
most rootstock bears a label M for Malling or MM for Malling and, uh,
Mertenson (?).  These places put out several commonly used stocks.
The most dwarfing ones are M9 and M27.  Avoid M101 and M111 - these
yield about half standard sized trees.  To some extent some cultivars
lend themselves towards dwarfing better than others.

When getting apple trees, try to find a place that can tell you what
root stock the scion wood was grafted on.  Go for M9 and M27.  When
you plant the tree make *sure* you keep the graft union a few inches
above the ground.  If you don't, the scion wood will root itself and
you'll get a fullsized, 40' monster tree.  Several of my neighbors
have done this and wonder why the trees didn't dwarf the way the
nursery said they would.

You further contain and train dwarf trees by proper pruning.  If done
correctly from the start you end up with a beautiful, productive and
easy to care for tree.  I'm not prepared to launch into a pruning
lecture except to say proper pruning involves lots of small cuts which
thin whole twigs and branches and almost no heading cuts.  Year to
year maintenance involves mainly removing unwanted water sprouts and a
few judicious cuts to eliminate old wood which tends to fruit high and
on the outer edges.  What you want is to keep the fruiting zone low
and in.

My current experiment with apple trees is growing 7 heirloom varieties
on a trellis.  So far it's working quite nicely.  When I'm done I'll
have a fruiting hedge 25' long, 2' wide and 7' high of seven never to
be seen in the supermarket apples: 3 desert, 3 cullinary and one true
cyder tree.  This hedge, which is about half filled in, is a joy to
work with compared to my one remaining monster McIntosh which I left
for my girls to climb in.

For fruit tree source there is only one place I even look at any more:

Southmeadow Fruit Gardens
Lakeside, MI  49116
(616) 469-2865

This place sells over 250 apple varieties alone.  Almost all are
heirloom.  They'll sell you it on the rootstock you want (if not sold
out).  They're are absolute fanatics when it comes to fruit.  They
also sell lots n' lots of other fruit trees and vines.  Their catalog
costs something like $8 but is a real gem.  It tells something useful
about every single variety they sell.  You'll want to buy them all...
I've had nothing but down-home 1950's Midwestern service from them,
too - friendly and laid back.  Even the phone receptionist I've
chatted with was very knowledgable about their plants.  I can't
recommend this place enough.

For tree care, I like the HP book Western Fruit Berries & Nuts, but
there are others I also refer to.

If you want to try a fence, trellis or espalier setup you want the
pamplet: Training Espalier Fruit Trees by Robert L. Stebbins at Oregon
State University.  Nothing but practical info on some 25 different
ways to train fruit trees in a plane.  I think you can buy this
booklet from Southmeadow.

So, that should get you started on dwarf apple trees.  The only other
major pitfall is to get varieties which grow in you area.  I'm
fortunate to live in a climate where virtually any temperate fruit
tree will do well - not too cold, no worries about minimum chilling -
just about right.  Your milage may vary.
-- 
Keith Rogers
krogers@javelin.sim.es.com
Newsgroups: rec.gardens