Q. Recently, I saw an advertisement for a “fruit cocktail” tree. I’m intrigued. What should I expect from planting one?
A. A fruit cocktail tree typically has a peach, plum, nectarine, and apricot growing on a single trunk. They are also referred to as a “four and one combination fruit tree.” The “fruit cocktail” name is strictly a marketing name created by an out-of-state mail order nursery. They were available locally during the eighties but faded away. They’re once again being promoted because of the homegrown trend. While they have great name recognition, the trees don’t always live up to their expectations. I’d expect them to disappoint many gardeners who don’t recognize the unique issues necessary in growing them successfully. The diameter of the grafts are not uniform, so the trees look unbalanced or awkward, but they will balance in time. The plum and apricot grafts are usually pencil-thin while the peach and nectarine are more the size of your thumb. The grafts are fragile. If one breaks off, you now have a three-and-one tree. The four varieties do not necessarily have the same growth rate; hence, they’re pruned throughout the year to avoid overcrowding. Each variety should be allowed to occupy only a quarter of the canopy space. During the winter months, you’d remove fifty percent of the peach and nectarine growth and half as much (twenty-five percent) with the plum and apricots. The grafts can easily exceed fifteen feet without some diligent pruning to keep the height down. They’re planted seven to ten feet off a fence line to keep all the fruit in your yard. Established deciduous fruit trees are watered deeply, twice a month, so the area under the tree should be left unplanted, to prevent overwatering. Apples, pears and Asian pears are the exceptions. Frequent watering is a quick method of attracting borers and eventually losing the tree. With today’s small gardens, this can really limit the available planting area. If you have a large enough garden then planting three to four trees in a single hole is a better option. The trees are spaced two feet apart in a triangle within a four-foot planting space. You’ll have multiple varieties growing in a small space with sufficient room for each variety to develop. You’ll get to select your personal favorites, not someone else’s. The key to choosing varieties is the ripening date. You don’t want all the fruit to ripen at the same time or while you’re away on vacation. I’d select Ultra Dwarf fruit trees over a semi-dwarf variety, as the Ultra Dwarfs grow to about ten feet. The nursery professional at your favorite garden center is an excellent resource for selecting combinations of fruit trees, as they’re all not compatible. You’ll find a video on planting three trees in a single hole, at http://www.davewilson.com/video/diy_1.html.
Q. Several years ago, I replaced the plastic sheeting in my yard with landscape fabric. The fabric was to stop the root rot that was killing the plants. The fabric was covered with bark to control the weeds. It did the job for but last year, and now there is grass and other weeds throughout the area. Why isn’t the weed fabric working?
A. The landscape fabric didn’t fail you. The fabric is superior to plastic as a weed barrier around plants as it allows the soil to breathe letting the excess moisture evaporate. It also prevents weed seeds from germinating and with a thick layer of mulch it suffocates other weeds. However, it’s not a permeant solution. Bark and other organic mulches decompose while adding an aesthetic look to the landscape. It’s not thought of in this fashion, but it’s a form of passive composting. The more prominent particles become smaller, while the smaller particles become tiny and so on. You end up with soil that supports the growth of desirable and undesirable plants on top of the fabric. Now add in another factor. We don’t live in a sterile environment. The annual vegetation on the hills produce seeds that are redistributed by the wind. In non-irrigated areas, the seeds lay dormant until the rainy season and where there is moisture the weeds germinate throughout the growing season. Landscape fabric will only control the weeds under the barrier. Those resting on top of the fabric sprout in time. Hence again, it should never be thought of as a permeant solution. There are several options in dealing with this problem. Every three to four years, you rotate and replenish the mulch. This would require you to remove the old mulch from the fabric and separate it into fine and coarse piles. The coarse material is mixed with the new mulch and spread back over the area. The fine material is then added with other soil amendments or potting soil for container plants. Another solution is to leave the mulch in place. You then spray the weeds with Round-Up or similar non-selective herbicide and be sure to protect the desirable plants from the spray. Once they have died off, apply a pre-emergent herbicide to kill the dormant weed seeds before they germinate. The pre-emergent herbicide can be applied right over the top of existing plants without harming them. The nursery professional at your favorite garden center can help you decide which product or solution is best for your yard. Depending on the size, there are granular and liquid solutions. Also, you handle irrigated and non-irrigated areas differently, because water activates the chemical barrier. Also, you do not want to cultivate the treated areas, as you will disturb the barrier. Each solution will work for an extended period, so check the label for the specific time. With a new or revamped landscape, the landscape fabric or plastic is unnecessary if you adopt the pre-emergent strategy.
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