Thank you all for your help. All except the Spring Satin are on Citation. The Spring Satin is from Isons, where there is no mention of rootstock and a couple of emails to them went unanswered. Their site says it gets 10-12 feet tall. All were bare root, planted in the last several weeks-- I got lucky with a couple of breaks in the cold. I have read a bunch on Dave Wilson's techniques, as well as the critiques here. I am not really going for that per se. Rather, I was planning to summer prune to keep them in check. I think mod central leader is my best bet to keep the footprint as small as possible. Production is not a huge issue, as I do not have any real storage options yet. Although my 7-year old daughter can really do a number on plums. It is wise to not stand between her and a bowl of them. Same for my son and a bowl of blueberries. If they can eat all the fruit from these trees/bushes, I may have to get a second job... Thanks again.

If the branches are still supple there is still hope. However as late as it is it may not make it and only time will tell. Old school is to prune a bareroot tree while its still dormant chopping all the branches and the central leader. Others now say its best not to cut off the terminal buds because they produce a growth hormone that helps the tree establish itself. I can't say who is right or wrong. However I have found that the bareroot trees I have pruned that come with branches take a good while longer to leaf out. They take longer than the bareroot trees that came with branches that I do not prune. They also take longer to leaf out than the bareroot trees that come with all their branches cut off. Nothing scientific about it, just my personal observation you can so take it or leave it. However after this season I personally will not do any pruning the first season on bareroot trees. My one exception will be summer pruning after they have already leafed out.

"The longest horizontal branch, or lateral, should not be allowed to grow longer than (1/6, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2?) the height of the tree." Mark, You could start a new thread if you wanted, but I think we are still w/in the scope of this one. In terms of scaffold length, I suppose it might depend on what type of tree you were pruning to determine whether or not to shorten scaffolds, and how compact you wanted to keep the tree. I don't try to keep my trees compact (just try to keep them low). From that paradigm, I was having a hard time understanding why someone would maintain scaffold length at some proportion of tree height. But I can see where this would apply for high density plantings, or dense backyard culture. For my own peach trees, I try to keep them at a height of 8' or shorter. I don't try to shorten the scaffolds at all. A lot of my 8' tall trees have scaffolds 10' long. However, it seems for the most part, the long scaffolds prune themselves in a way. What I mean is the ends of them get pulled down to the ground. Then sometime after harvest all the low branches get pruned (cause they are too close to the ground) so the low ends get chopped off with thinning cuts. The growth angling up doesn't get pruned (as long as it's not over 8' tall) but the next season it gets pulled down from the weight of fruit and again is pruned off after harvest. I hope I'm making sense. Maybe another way of saying it is that I try to prune peaches to make them like a rolodex. The growth comes out from the inside and lays down. The lower outside growth is pruned and new inside growth comes out and lays down again to replace it.

Were the two trees which were cut down, cut down recently? You can usually tell by looking at the stump left behind...if there is one. Your apples look to be Ginger Gold or maybe Grimes Golden, but you must realize there are 100's if not 1000's of apples that would look very similar. Golden Delicious is very common, but don't often exhibit the russetting that your's have. Fruit trees almost always do better in pairs due to pollination requirements. Nearly all apples, in fact, let's just say "ALL" apples require a pollinator. A different variety that blooms at about the same time...this is so the trees can have sex, carried out by bees, insects the wind etc. Some fruit trees can be self pollinating, but even those generally set better with a pollinator. If your plum is European it will most likely need a pollinator, though some can be self fertile. It may be that the pollinators were what was cut down. Often an old apple tree in the neighborhood will successfully pollinate your tree, these trees can even be ornamental flowering crabs. For better help here it is important that you list your growing zone. You can click on the profile tab from this page and it will tell you your zone and then list it. You can also google "USDA growing zone followed by your zip code". There is a lot you can do to get good fruit. Read up on pruning, spraying insecticide/fungicides etc. Hang out here a little...read and ask questions. Lots of sharp and helpful folks here. I'm not one of the sharp ones BTW. You will probably want pollinators for those trees. It would be helpful if you can find out from the former owners what varieties they are. If not, it is not necessary, but would be helpful. Maybe your neighbor will know. If you can get some photos of the trees and maybe a close-up of one of those apples, someone here may be able to identify it. Trees come in all shapes, colors and sizes, with their size primarily predicated by the rootstock they are grafted on to. Are the apples you picked any good? Are they tart or sweet, crisp or soft, juicy or dry or somewhere in between. The fact that you bothered to pick your apples and post a question here shows some interest. Study it a bit and ask your questions here...you may find that you've discovered a new hobby full of reward and fulfillment with equal parts frustration and disappointment. You will be very welcome here I'm sure.