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!

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.

Scott

I would love to see photos of the trees!

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).

"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'

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.

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.

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.