It would not work. You would have to remove one or more grafts. The grafts pointed towards the inside would have to be trimmed, and never left to grow. In a way the 4 in one hole is the same as a 4 in one graft.

Multiple trees in one hole is not a new thing. My grandfather apparently did it with his apple trees. Not knowing this I was surprised when I went back to the property after it was rented for decades. The apples on one side were fresh-eating apples and the other were storing apples (I unknowingly removed the third variety). It took me a while to figure this out but the bark was definitely different on the different sides of the tree. They had become a single trunk. The trees had been there for at least 40 years but the day after I sold the property a huge wind storm came and took out one third of the tree straight down to the ground. It sort of made me proud of how progressive he was.

Drew51 is right, the multi-graft trees are much more difficult to tend because one cannot prune as needed. I was in the same quandary but decided to plant my trees 5' apart in rows 7' apart. For me this has been easier to manage. There are others here that plant them even closer. I think I will fill in between my trees soon, especially in between my peach trees. One cannot have too many peach trees!

Thank you both for the input. Very interesting outcome on milehighgirl's grandfather's apple tree(s)!

I have personally heard this done with "nurse trees" - trees that aid other trees untill the desierable species are tall and big enough to handle the climate youre growing them in. It is usually done with nitrogen fixing trees or shrubs. Some people advovate this because you can chop and drop the nitrogen fixing plant at will, and it is supposed to help the other tree grow as well. The only problem with this then, is getting rid of the nurse tree. Eventually it will decline due to shade and competition.

People who usually do this tend to have a mini forest, rather then an orchard or well maintained yard so esthetics arent always a priority.

It has been bugging me that I could not remember the word that describes this. I finally figured it out: Inosculation

Here is a link that might be useful: Inosculation

One of the Dave Wilson guidelines is that the things must be of similar vigor. So don't mix plums and pears, their vigor will not be the same. I have done many kinds of close plantings. 4 in a hole and rows with trees 3' apart I found easy to work with any kind of fruit, as long as any crossing branches are pruned and summer pruning is done. Most of my plantings are in 3' spaced rows with 10-12' between rows, I have several hundred trees at that spacing.

Scott

That's really cool Scott! I used 8 foot spacings, as my dog needs to run around, so he can weave in and out, but that has limited me to 5 trees! Argh! I'm starting a 2nd row though, and have room for 2 more. One will be Mixon Free, the other yet to be determined...

I would love to see photos of the trees!

Scott, I've read a few of your posts and you have a lot of practical experience with BYOC. Please share your thoughts on using a grafted tree in the 4 in one hole method provided each tree has the same rootstock. For example, 2 pluot grafts, an Aprium, and a nectarine each on a Citation rootstock. I understand that one graft from each pluot would have to be sacrificed to keep the center open, but as long as the one removed is not needed for pollinating another I don't, at least in theory, see a problem.

I have tried something like that. If the grafts get any more dense in five years you have a lot of leaves and no fruit -- its very hard to let every variety have a little space. If you already had 5 years practice with BYOC you could give it a try perhaps, but I would not recommend it for starting. I had several plantings I had to remove varieties from because they were too dense. A rough guide for plums and pears is each variety needs at least 30 square feet, so e.g. 3' spacing in rows 10' apart. Even that is a bit dense for starting out, 4' with 12' rows is easier. I tried more dense and I have some trees in those stands that are ten years old which I have never tasted a fruit from. The number of trunks is not the primary factor, whether its multi-graft or multi-trunk the varieties each need their space. You can get 50 grafts on one trunk, but that means 50 grafts * 30 sq ft for each = 1500 square feet for the tree meaning you need to let it grow to 40' in diameter. Thats how Luther Burbank did it.

Scott

PS I took some pictures of my orchard last spring, see below. I don't see any of the multiple trees in one hole but I have several of them around my yard; mostly you will se the 3' spaced rows and some double rows (zig-zag).

Here is a link that might be useful: pics of my orchard

Scott, thank you for the input. I will take your advise and not try to squeeze in a graft. Your yard looks green and gorgeous! It'll be a few years before the dusty clay postage stamp that came with our house looks anything close to that!

Scott,

"A rough guide for plums and pears is each variety needs at least 30 square feet

So do peaches fall under this guideline? If so that means I can't put any more in as my spaces are 5'x7'

Scott: To achieve 3 foot spacing on your apples, do you exclusively use a certain dwarf rootstock like B-9, M-9 or G-11? Seems like it would be a real challenge with semi-dwarf rootstock or with vigorous varieties.

Most of the G-11's from Cummins I planted last fall are already over 7' and I am not sure where they will top out without some limb bending.

5x7' spacing for peaches sounds real tight, especially in the between row spacing. I've seen statements online that the rows should be spaced 1.1 to 1.5 times the height of the trees (to prevent shading).

I think Fruitnut uses something like 5x7 spacings in his greenhouse. But, he does it by keeping them pretty short and summer pruning (not to mention limiting the water).

I also think it would be a problem, just from a pure space perspective. I've got a short row of 3 peach trees (4' spaced), which is about 7' from a row of tomato plants. Even though the peaches are only in their 2nd leaf, they are already big enough that they almost meet the tomato plants (which grew up a 3-4' temporary fence and are not small themselves). To mow in between, I find myself pushing both out of the way. I can't imaging how bad things would be if I was to replace the tomatoes with a 2nd row of peaches.

Scott, I would be interested in how you've kept the peaches in line with 3' spacings (how many times each summer, what do you cut out, etc). So far this summer, most of my pruning was to just take off the top 2-3' of growth, which was above 8-9'. I cut a few overlapping branches out, but it still feels a bit dense.

bob_z6,

You are right about the peach spacing. I have decided to grow them in espalier fashion and prune them as if they were grape vines, IOW, remove the wood that fruited one year so it can be replaced and fruit the following year after that. I'm still working on the support system but this way I can have two-dimensional trees (sort of).

I guess I will have to reconsider planting more peaches between them though. I am completely out of room now. I have a few I will cull this year; PF-1 and PF-24C. I'm debating on keeping the Saturn but it's hard for me to judge because I have not gotten a decent crop. It's so beautiful when it's covered with blossoms but the fruit set is poor.