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.

You have covered almost all small fruits including rasberries. Rasberries are the ones that will not fail to fruit. Most others (but not all) trees will grow nicely but may not fruit every year in Zone4~5 even if you get the hardiest ones. Apples may be one of the exception. From my experience in Zone 5, I would suggest to include "Evan" cherry in case you also discover that sweet cheries are difficult to fruit in colder zones (in addition to the associated diseases for the stone fruit trees). Evan cherry will fruit most of the years. I will also recommend CHUM (Cherry-Plum hybrid. These are hardy and available from 'DNA Gardens ...(Google it)'. Get a good combination for pollination. In addition, think about honeyberries. They fruit in colder zones. I am having problem growing Blueberries in Zone 5 so I cannot say much about it unless you want to try your luck. Keep in mind that the Zone numbers are indicative of winter harshness but not all similar Zones will have similar summer conditions. Some Zone 4 locations will have warmer summers than other Zone 4 locations with better gardening results. Good luck in your selection.

Tracy, I think you'll find plenty of information and opinions in the threads shown in the link below. It's the results from searching for 'dwarf spacing' in this forum (which should cover dwarf and semi-dwarf varieties). As you'll see, a big factor in spacing will be pruning. The cedars may present a problem from CAR (cedar apple rust). Since I'm not familiar with the prevalence of this disease in your area (and can't even tell where you live because you didn't include that info with your zone info or on your member page) , you might want to contact your local ag extension service for more locally-relevant information on that. If you want to supply your location, you might be able to get more information about CAR here, from someone close to your area. You may also want to do a search from pruning techniques. You'll find numerous threads on the topic (maybe to the point of overload). Once you've done a little studying on that, come back and ask questions to clear up any concerns you still have. I wish we had one single, really thorough thread about pruning, but unfortunately the information is pretty scattered. Finally, have you researched varieties that will do well in your area? That may be a "can of worms". If not, your local extension agent might be able to give you some initial ideas on that too, but you'll definitely want to supplement his/her recommendations with your own research. Here is a link that might be useful: Search for 'dwarf spacing'

I'm afraid what I have to offer wouldn't be worth the postage for your bamboo (tho I would love to try some someday.) But if you're interested in calamondin, a small, sour citrus great in marinades and cocktails, I have some seeds. I'm told it grows well in pots, though I inherited mine in the ground. And I know it grows true from seeds, unlike most citrus. It's a fruit I love and hard to find from the usual sources, so if you're interested, send me an email and I'll put some in the mail. (wish I could think of a way to transport bamboo for 43 cents, but barring that, my seeds aren't worth a trade.) Susannah