Hi Dan, I just tasted my first 20th Century fruit today and it was just outstanding . . . juicy, sweet, great texture. And the Hosui I have been harvesting the past 2 weeks have been really nice. I don't know why I don't see more neighbors in my area with Asian pears! Both trees are semi-dwarf, and the main branch was cut off about 3-4 inches below a 6 foot wrought iron fence, with the lateral branches tied horizontally. Both trees were planted in late September 2011, and both have been very fruitful this summer, only 1 1/2 years later. No disease, no fruit cracking, and knock on wood no fireblight!

Organicgrower, I'm not Jorel. I have a friend whose name is Jorel and is not online in this forum. But since no one answered, I would assume that it would be me, JoeReal. You will have to prune your tree different ways from now on. Prune during the late summer. First thin out the overcrowding or cross over branches. Then cut back half the length of most vigorous end twigs or limbs at each of the remaining major branches, for the non-vigorous limbs, pinch off 3 inches from the tip. This is to encourage spurs on the branches which hopefully become flower buds the next season. If you know how to do bark inversion, do it on your major trunk in the late summer, and make sure to cover the inverted bark properly with sealant. Bark inversion encourages bigger fruits, and you won't need to prune your tree for about 4 years yet it will bloom more and have bigger fruits. If you are not into organics, I would have recommended application of fertilizers high in K. If you are doing the organic way, one way you can do this is to apply wood ashes (sparingly, else they will turn your soil basic) and compost.

CreatedToCook: How has your planning changed with Steve's input (or others')? Last weekend I actually planted a seven citrus espalier in my front yard along the property boundary wall, where the ground slopes down to the street - sound familiar? It's a LOT like yours. Mine slopes down steeper than yours. But it may help you to know how I got over a couple of bumps. Here's what was holding me up... I had been dreaming for about a year of making it a Belgian Fence or Losange shape -- diamonds. Every time I drew it out on paper it didn't work, because I was focusing too much on planting each tree equally distant from it's neighbor, and treating each tree equally in the first cut. I would have had big blank spots and uneven diamonds if I'd done that. Finally I got out some chalk, and I drew the shape using the bricks as my guide: I counted the same rise over the same run over and over and marked each spot with a dot, and then connected the dots. It really helped that I made the ones leaning left pink and the ones leaning right blue (or vice versa.) Immediately I saw where I should plant the trees to fill in all of the lines. They were not all equally planted from one another! And although I did not build a raised bed, I needed to terrace the earth in the end, because I discovered my soil was pure clay. Each hole I dug was basically just a pot, waiting for excess water and root rot. So I ended up digging a 2 foot wide trench down the hill and mixing in 75% compost, then terracing so that each root ball was slightly above the slope. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Oh... one other thing, I was reading that these are the ideal citrus for espalier and hedge, respectively, but I think you really can try any kind of citrus as long as you are ok with them growing at different rates. (See list below.) It's kinda like how SteveInLosOsos had that lemon that filled out so beautifully and swiftly. The others just take a little longer. Tom Spellman of DWN is very encouraging about trying out most citrus in various shapes. I'd like to know more about which fruit varieties favor which shapes, as Steve was talking about earlier. (Btw Spice Zee Nectaplum is supposedly VERY much like a Nectarine, and you should probably plan to treat it that way.) If peaches prefer fans, and plums prefer horizontal, what do nectarines prefer? Good Citrus for Espelier: Meiwa Kumquat Nagami Kumquat Eureka Lemon Meyer Improved Lemon Chandler Pummelo DANCY Tangerine Satsuma Tangerine Good Citrus for Hedge: Calmondine - "nearly thornless" Verigated Calmondine - "nearly thornless" Meyer Improved Lemon - "nearly thornless" Pink Lemonade/Veriegated Eureka (green veriegated fruit! and leaves)--has thorns! Pomona Sweet Lemon - has thorns! Sweet Lime doesn't do well in SoCal - needs wet. I may need to plant a thorny hedge to keep people from stealing the fruit from my front yard!

I'm going to hijack your thread for just a bit, Glenn, and provide some Yacon information. Yacon is a tender perennial related closely to dahlias and sunflowers. It's native to middle elevations in the Andes from Chile to Equador. I grew it for the first time this year. Plants look sort of like a Jerusalem Artichoke with wide, spade-shaped hairy leaves. They get small, yellowish sunflower-like blooms in the autumn, according to the catalogs, but mine did not bloom. The plants grow these amazingly large, sweet potato like tuberous roots underneath the crown. Mine ranged in size from about 4 ounces to well over a pound, and most were probably in the 10 to 16 ounce range. From six plants, I got probably about 2/3rds to 3/4ths of a bushel (didn't measure them exactly, just threw into a box). The tuber has a dark brown skin, which peels easily but which can also be eaten. Texture of the flesh is similar to waterchestnut or jicama, but is more "delicate." Flavor is a very sweet, mild carrot flavor with fruity overtones. I've found it really good in both salads and stirfried dishes. The plant also grows round, inedible, vegetative tubers that look like small Jerusalem artichokes. These are carried over (hopefully it will work for me) to replant the next season. I ordered my three plants from Nichols Garden Nursery in Oregon last spring. They came as nice potted plants about 4 inches tall. Each one had two distinct sprouts, so I separated them at planting and made 6 total. I grew them in large barrels in good soilless mix, kept them well watered and fertilized. The plants got about 4 to 6 feet tall. I dug them in mid-October. So far, the tubers appear to be storing well -- catalogs and internet sources claim that they will store for 6 to 8 months in cool, semi-humid locations. Seeds of Change, I believe, was also offering these plants in their catalog last year. Over at Idigmygarden.com, in either the Heirloom Gardening or General Digging messageboards, there are a couple of yacon threads, and I posted some photos of my plants and crop taken on the day of harvest back in October. I don't have an exact link searched up, but you can find it pretty easily by doing a search for "yacon" if anyone is interested. OK, now that I've put in my plug for Yacon ... back to your regularly scheduled program. Dennis SE Michigan