i'm thinking gwen or holiday, which can reach a heigh of 12 feet, which is manageable. i've read that lamb hass can grow quite large (20 feet or taller), given enough time.

now i'm considering a reed. advantages: upright growth habit, self-fertilization. it can grow moderately tall, but perhaps i can keep it trimmed to a height of 10-12 feet and still enjoy a bounty of 'cados.

thanks for the perspective, nick. which of your varieties do you find most flavorful?

Hello!

I just signed up because I was looking for help with my own avocado question when I came across your post and wanted to chime in.

Approx. 5 years ago we planted two avocado trees in one hole in our smallish back yard, after taking a class on this technique offered by Dave Wilson trees at a local nursery. When selecting our trees, we received advice from our favorite person who works at another local nursery, on choosing an A and a B type, so they could cross-pollinate each other. We ended up choosing a Pinkerton and a dwarf Holiday. As it turns out, we later did our homework (as we should have done to begin with) and found both our already-planted trees were type A. Oh no! The Pinkerton already had three fruits on it when we bought it, but we were advised to remove these as the tree was too young.

That winter we ended up having a terrible frost. The main (and only) branch of the Pinkerton turned black signifying death. I noticed it was still green a few inches above the rootstock, so since the tree was already dying I figured I had nothing to lose by cutting it down to where the green began, leaving the little tree approx. 2 feet tall. The Holiday looked pretty bad, too, losing almost all leaves from the frost. Plus, I found it to be a rather ugly tree and we decided to remove them both and get our money back. However, we never found the time to actually do this, and let them grow, Praise the Lord!

The Pinkerton was growing like a bush with a 6 foot low spread with no main trunk except the stub where I had cut it down, and looked ridiculous, I thought. But it was alive and I thought it was amusing that I hadn't killed it and it survived the frost! Feisty little tree! I thought the Holiday was just plain unattractive and looked more like a weird weeping willow, still small and skinny. But we were still too busy to pull them and pulling them was definitely the plan!

Last year, by then 4 years in our yard, they both suddenly bolted upright! The Pinkerton grew a solid center trunk and several side branches. I had such joy when I found it also had numerous tiny green avocados on it's little tips after flowering! The Holiday had lost it's ugly scrawniness and suddenly was also growing upright and producing (far fewer) tiny avocados! To date, the Pinkerton is a very narrow tree that has given us 15 very large pear-shaped utterly delicious fruit, and the Holiday has given us 4 ginormous also very creamy delicious fruit!

The thrill and joy we receive from both these trees has continued this year as they have just completed flowering and both (especially the Holiday) are LOADED with small avocados that we will enjoy next year. And 3 from this year are still on the Holiday, and 8 are still on the Pinkerton. A search on the Internet told me that Pinkertons can be stored ON THE TREE and will not ripen til picked. I was told the Holiday would not be ready to pick until between Labor Day and Christmas (hence the name Holiday) but one fell off about two weeks ago. It ripened after 5 days in a paper bag and was utterly delicious and ready to eat in the middle of May!

My question for this forum was going to be can my two little trees withstand the weight of so many, many avocados. Nothing seems to be falling off and the fruits are getting bigger by the day. Not sure if I should pick some off or just invest in several types of stakes to support the branches, as these fruits grow heavy and BIG. I want to take proper care of these trees and we now love them very much!

Sorry for the long post, but I hope any east county San Dieo gardener will consider the merits of these two varieties. They are hardier than I anticipated. They grew against all odds. They are both type A yet have flowered and produced magnificently. Neither variety is dependant on a cross-pollinater. Bees love them! They are not huge trees and are perfect for an urban backyard, as they take up very little room, yet are good producers of creamy, large, delicious fruit that is not commercially available. Online sites will tell you that Pinkerton's can be easily trained to have just one branch, and truly that is all you need with this tree. And in the end, they are both beautiful and adored in our landscape. :)

Photos: They seem to be close to overhead power lines, but actually are very far away.

excellent, 4th kassie. you’re way ahead of the game if you’ve got two productive trees. how do the two compare in flavor?