Thread: Fruit, Nut, and Vine Grafting, Tree Propagation, Tree Care

In backyard Permaculture different planting approaches can be used for fruit tree production. I do 3 - 4 - even 5 trees per location to take advantage of different ripening dates, flowering dates for pollination, different growth habits (upright to spreading growth habits) , etc. Also the Fig trees I planted last fall need extra water, figs need lots of water.



Feeding one rectangular block of Plum trees I'm trenching from the main line down to the Plum trees.



I also have a single Fig tree on each side of the Plum block. A shallow trench was cut for the 1/4in line to feed the two Figs. You can run a Emitter with 1/4in Irrigation line up to 30ft. I will tap the Drop line from the Main line with the 1/4in tubing and then bury them just so I can mow over the top without issue.



This rental Trencher is a manual Push Trencher so if possible I go downhill as much as I can. The existing buried Mainline was just stubbed out of the ground for future expansion last year. Now I will dig it up and connect the new irrigation lines bringing water to more fruit trees.



I do this when my yard needs mowing so I can use the push mower to mow a layout so to speak for the new lines to be installed.



Where needed the depth can be adjusted so since I don't have to worry about cutting another line I can trench a little deeper. I have a Pecan tree I'm passing to the left of and want to miss as much roots as possible so I have a shallow hook to this trench.



This line is the trench in the previous picture. This is a 105ft retaining wall we installed numerous years ago that can dry out with droughts. Plum, Peach & Nectarine trees line this wall so I will "T" off this line to water all the trees at one time.



3 more blocks of fruit trees now have automated water ran to them. From the 1/2in line I will run 1/4in lines to each tree. Using the precision 1/2 gallon per hour watering Emiters just to keep the soil moist. A moisture percentage of 25% is optimum for tree fruit production. I have found soaker hoses use too much water and is a big reason why I made the move to a precision watering method.



Here is a picture of where I Teed off the Main line to feed one of the blocks. If I don't run the riding mower over the area I just stake the lines down on the surface and allow grass to grow over them.