Fruitnut, I have 2 methods and I'm sharing my trade secrets here (what the hell- I'm 6 months from 60 and hope to retire in 25 years anyway). I start some plants straight in the ground, planting them way too close in a fenced off area. Planting them close makes maintenance per plant much less expensive given that it's all done by hand (don't ask). For apples in my climate it takes about 3 years to size them up to about 1.5" diameter- at least when planted this close. I carefully dig up these BR and put them in short 20 gallon pots (wide and shallow) in a mix of 1 part peat, 1 composted wood chips or stable waste ( almost pure humus with some carbo lumps) and 1 sand, plus a little wood ash. They limp the first season but I sell them the next for around $180 per. At this point they are bearing, 12' tall and well branched and the foliage is back to mormal. Other trees I transfer to Carl Whitcomb grow bags in real soil and let them grow about another 3 years and sell them for $250 per, or less to contractors. The grow bags I use are his last edition because they allow more root out of the bag and I can grow them without any irrigation at all- even through drought. Irrigation would reduce production by about a year, I'm sure, but in my operation only my potted plants get any and they are set in the soil as well. I always take some trees in the grow bags, remove the bags and put them into 25 Gallon pots with the soil intact but surrounded by my potting mix which allows me to sell some larger trees during the growing season. Surprisingly the soil surrounded by potting mix works very well and you might want to try that method for your trees as the soil gives you much more bang per square inch and costs less. Repotting would require only replacing the artificial soil on the edge of the soil ball. It makes things real heavy though, and my soil is not too fine so I don't know how it would work with a more clay soil but I bet it would work just fine. I'm sure my prices seem outrageous by your regional standards but I'm less than an hour from NYC and here it's more than competitive- it's the best deal around- because I have scores of varieties and they're actually properly shaped for fruit production. They also plug in better than the competitions BB'd trees, especially the ones I have in pots.

I'd avoid M26 and MM106 as crown rot may be a problem in your area on poorly drained soils. Where fireblight may be a concern, rootstocks like M7 that sucker will allow a point of entry for fireblight. Also avoid fireblight susceptible varieties grafted on fireblight sensitive rootstocks such as M26 or you will be asking for trouble. Myself, I'm going with Bud 9 for those I'm planting near my house. The rest will be MM111 where I won't be able to water regularily and wind is a problem. My third choice would be M7. I wasn't able to get any of Geneva 11 or Geneva 30 which would be my first choices. Geneva 16 is noted for its sensitivity to latent viruses. Cummins nursery seems to have the best choice in rootstocks especially if can wait till 2010 as they have posted that list now. But I'm sure, you are like me and won't them ASAP. I've got trees and scionwood coming from many places. So far what I've planted this fall have been good looking stock. Better than what I received last spring from some of the same places.

I'm interested in pleaching some fruit trees- apples, peaches and so forth- into low fences but can't find information on doing so. The mechanics of it seem straighforward, but I wonder if trees on dwarfing rootstock would have too restricted a growth habit to do the job I want. On the other hand, would controlling a semidwarf be too time intense to make this practical? Thanks in advance for any ideas!

The rootstock has no impact on flowering time. That is determined only by the grafted cultivar. btw, Stella is self-fertile and does not require a pollination partner although you might achieve a heavier harvest with one.