posted 3 years ago
Ahhh, for fruit trees like peaches, which have whippy first-year growth, I don't bother with dwarf varieties.
I treat it like a large bonsai, and trim/pull the branches into a low bush shape. There's a word for 'Bonsai but in the ground and kinda big' but I don't remember what it is.
Since I do a circuit of my property at least once a week (usually every other day, after work to de-stress), I take my 'gardening' bag with me.
Right now it's got a little paintbrush to help pollination, pruning shears, gloves, wire snips, and a small roll of wire.
It doesn't take much time to wrap some wire around a branch, pull it down, and anchor it under a rock or to another tree. Once the branch stabilized in that lower shape (a month or so later), I'll remove the wire and use that length on some other branch. It keeps the fruit trees low enough to the ground that I can reach them.
Even if I abandon the trees for a year or two and let them grow straight up from their current position, there's plenty of branches low enough that I could climb up and pull the tips down to a more reach-able level.
I'm not concerned about maintaining a natural shape for the fruit trees - I'm just really scared of heights and know from experience that climbing up a ladder or into the branches of a tall tree to gather fruit (apples, cherries) is terrifying for me.
Nut trees, I'll wait for them to fall, or I'll whack the trunk /lower branches and have a tarp laid out to gather what falls.
For fruit, since they'd get bruised from falling, I train the trees down so I don't have to climb.
So: Bonsai the fruit trees and don't worry about cultivar's height, is my suggestion, lol.
