Planting Location Advice

General Fruit Growing
#1

I need some advice on where to plant some of my trees. First a bit of backstory:

I moved into a house around 2.5 years ago. I did some research on which Dave Wilson stone fruit varieties had the best taste test scores and ordered a whole bunch to plant up my yard. I am now trying to find a place to plant 1 of my 2 pluerrys.

I ordered a Sweet Treat pluerry (pictures on the left) which came on myro plum rootstock (I ordered Citation, but it appears its not compatible as they don’t seem to sell it on citation). I also ordered a Candy Heart on Citation (shown on the right). In addition, I grafted flavor king, dapple dandy, and flavor supreme on top of the Sweet Treat for pollenation. After being in pots for over a year, the trees are starting to look a bit stressed, so I want to hurry up and get them in the ground. I have space to plant 1 of them, and I’m hoping to eventually graft both types to the same tree.

So, I have 2 possible locations where I may want to plant.

  1. The first is in the back between a pomegranate tree and a peach tree. Its against a west-facing retaining wall on a hill. The space is only about 8’ across so its pretty cramped.
  2. The second would be in the front yard. This location is somewhat near the front path, its near some sprinkler pipes, and its by a part of the roof with solar panels.

Neither location is perfect, but I’m leaning more towards the first location. Also, I’m not sure which I should plant. Myroplum rootstock grows much taller than Citation, so I am thinking about planting the Candy Heart since I don’t want a 20’+ tree in either of those locations. The Sweet Treat also has the pluot grafts, but I also put those on the peach tree in the backyard so they are a bit redundant.

Alternatively, perhaps I could just graft branches from my pluerrys to my already established trees? In the backyard I have a peach of unknown rootstock and a colt cherry rootstock. In the front I have a Spice Zee.

There’s a lot to consider, what do you guys think?

Looks like I can only upload 1 photo since I’m new, so here is one showing the 2 growing locations:

Screen Shot 2023-05-08 at 12.20.08 AM
Screen Shot 2023-05-08 at 12.20.08 AM1920×1277 599 KB

1 Like
#2

Hi @Moop , welcome to GrowingFruit! Whereabouts are you located?

#3

To me, planting location is about accessiblity to picking the fruits…either for the young kids/grandkids or for us as we get older. Getting up those retaining steps may not be as safe as the tree get taller. If it was my yard, I probably save those higher spots for flowering plants and flat ground for fruiting trees.

1 Like
#4

I live on the West side of the East Bay hills in the bay area, California, zone 10a.

1 Like
#5

Edited

#6

I meant to say fish sauce. Especially the part about getting older.

#7

@northwoodswis4 You can edit your messages by the way. Click on the pencil icon

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#8
  • People here seem to like eating Candy Heart more than Sweet Treat
  • People here (some from California) complain of Crown Gall disease on Citation, to the point they swear never to buy another Citation again.
  • You should be able to use summer pruning to maintain tree height. Pruning on retaining wall would be difficult and dangerous if you lose your footing.