Show me your goods! - Bud 9, G11, G41 trees

[Asturias_in_Ohio]

Greetings Community,

To those that have trees on the rootstocks mentioned in the title, I’m terribly interested to know the age, height, and canopy width of your tree(s) along with the training method you use (central leader, modified leader, cordon, etc.). I would also be greatly appreciative of photos of the trees. I know it’s winter here in the Northern Hemisphere so they may not be at their prettiest but now is when the structures will be most visible. Thanks to all.

[mroot]

I have in the 4th leaf:

Enterprise G41
Ashmead’s Kernel G11
Roxbury Russet G11

Height= 10-12 feet
Width= about 6 feet approx.
Cone shaped canopy, Christmas tree shaped

Training- similar to vertical axis or slender spindle except no permanent scaffolds on the bottom whorl at least so far

I have eight trees I grafted myself on Bud 9. The trees spend two years in the vegetable garden and then this Spring transplanted them to tall spindle planting with a three feet spacing.

I have some additional trees on G41 that I purchased this year.

All of my trees are supported by an eight foot t-stake driven a foot and a half into the ground. Each tree is tied to the stake at 3 or 4 places.

Do you have some specific questions?

[Asturias_in_Ohio]

Hello mroot, thanks for responding. I live in a residential area and my yard is rectangular with the front and back borders being longer than the sides. I’d like to line my back fence (faces south, runs east and west) with trees and am trying to figure out how to best use and fill the space while at the same time not taking up too much of the back yard. I’m leaning more towards some of the two-dimensional structures - espalier, oblique cordon, maybe even spindles - and I think I would be foolish not to ask for advice and input from the many here who know more than me.

[mroot]

Well here are a couple of suggestions. First, I would make a drawing with the dimensions of your backyard and try some different ideas on how to best use the space. It’s easier to plan and correct mistakes on paper rather than when the trees are in the ground.

If your wanting to do a 2 dimensional tree- espalier will work or you could just prune/ train a spindle so the branches are in a single vertical plane. It’s sort of a simpler espalier. A informal fan type espalier will also be simpler than a formal espalier and less work.

I would look at these two threads they have useful information on laying out an orchard with limited space.

Orchard design for dummies

Do I need to get around the ends of the rows for spray or harvest? I would like to know what people are using for equipment in small orchard settings harvest or other. I am putting in about an acre, but there’s basically an access road right down the middle. Starts to cut fruit tree numbers pretty quick with roads through the middle and around the perimeter??

Recommendations for space efficient breeding/ trial nursery

First time poster. I’m about a year and a half into my fruit-nerd journey. Primary interest now is apples but will likely branch into other crops too. Getting nerdier by the day, but take it easy on me if I get some terminology wrong or my assumptions are faulty. Skillcult recommended this forum. A couple projects of mine are converging. I’m currently constructing a proper fence to keep chickens and deer out of the veg garden. Which got me thinking about another project and where to put i…

The tree spacing calculator in the threads is very good at determining spacing since it takes into account soil, rootstock, scion, irrigation, and training style.

[Kellogg_Hill_Farms]

I have trees on Bud 9 as well as G41 that are going into their 5th leaf. Mostly trained to an open center.
My new trees on G41, Bud 9, G890 and G969 will be modified central leader, as they will be used in a u pick that i am planning on opening in a few years.

These are from last spring but the structure shows up well.

[nwlady]

Most of my trees are on G11 and spaced about 10ft apart. I have each tree staked with 3 T-posts (triangle around tree about 4 ft out from tree) but even then they are unstable and I need to adjust the wire support at least one a year on each tree. Most are open vase except gala which insists on being central leader. I trim them to 6-7 ft as I don’t want to use a ladder. Most are about 7’ in diameter. If I were doing it over, I would use something like M111 with G11 as interstem. I have one tree like that and it doesn’t need staking.
…or… I would use B9 as a spindle but only 6 - 7 feet high so I wouldn’t need a ladder. Plant roughly 3’- 4’ apart. I could have more varieties in the same space.
This coming year I am going to start some “re-do”. Varieties that I know I want a lot of I am grafting to the M111/G11 combo. Some new varieties I will be grafting to B9 as spindles to see how I like the apple and that growing method. I will be starting and espalier (never done it before) on M111 more as an experiment as I am finding out how LONG it will take to really have a completed espalier (3 wire).