Duo or multi planting is our preferred option (rather than double or multi grafting) when two or more trees are wanted in a small space. The resulting multi trunked, single canopy tree, is easy to manage and prune. You can radically increase the number and variety of fruit trees in your back-yard orchard with duo or multi planting. This allows you to enjoy a wider range of fruit over a much longer period.
- Choosing early, mid and late season varieties will extend your harvest over months
- Good cross pollination gives better harvests, always consider pollination requirements when choosing your varieties.
- Increase the varieties of fruit within your available space
What do I have to do?
There are no hard and fast rules, but there are a few things to keep in mind:
- Choose trees of roughly the same size and vigour.
- If one tree is less vigorous, position it where it will receive the most sunlight (commonly the north or northwest side)
- Prune to prevent the branches crossing over
We highly recommend you watch the following excellent video on this topic, presented by Tom Spellman from Dave Wilson Nursery in California. Tom does a wonderful job of explaining this concept in great detail in a way that is very simple to understand. Keep in mind is this video relates to the Northern Hemisphere, so you will need to change ‘north’ to ‘south’ etc.
