It's a standard-sized tree, but I will be keeping it small, and in a container. I bought the tree last summer (2007), and kept it in the retail container for the remainder of the year (about a 15 gallon container, if I recall correctly). This winter, I rolled the tree out of its container, barerooted it, root pruned a little, then repotted it in its current container with fresh soil. It probably could have been planted in a smaller container if I had wanted. This spring it bloomed nicely, and set lots of fruit. I am currently thinning the fruit, and will begin some pruning in June to remove some wayward branches, and produce a more compact tree. Plums here are pruned in early summer to help avoid a specific foliar disease. I will probably roll it out of its container again this winter, and see what the roots have done. I may be able to get by with a smaller container next year. Cheers

Lind, I'm pretty sensitive to drainage because I've lost so many trees to it. A few years ago I got tired of pulling out dead trees, so I installed a field tile in most of the orchard area. It drains a lot of sub-surface water into a neighbor's pond. The tile stopped trees from dying but many trees still weren't thriving, so I've been slowly converting more trees to mounds. It's just what I have to do here. When I pull one out, I build a mound if I plan to go back w/ a peach. In my area, which may be different from MD, the soil stays wet from about Nov. thru June of the following year. It's the months of April, May, and June that the soggy soil does the trees in. In the past I've made my mounds out of regular native soil because it's free. This has worked very well for me. Below is an old photo I took this Spring. The tree directly to the left of my son was just starting it's second leaf/year. The tree in the mound on the right was also starting it's second leaf. However, the one on the right was not in a mound the first year and suffered stunting. So last fall, I dug it out, built a mound, and replanted. This picture was taken before either tree had put on any appreciable second leaf shoot growth. Both trees were the same size at purchase (bout 3/4"). My other trees in mounds perform similarly. Lately, I'm running out of places to dig, so I've been experimenting using wood chips as a base and putting soil on top as the growing medium. By the textbooks, this is a no no. But like I say, this is an experiment. This week I just got through building 10 more mounds for more trees. Rented a Dingo to build the mounds. Have 18 peach trees coming for next season, and have a mound for every one.

Thanks Bon- when you talk about budding- are you referring to t-budding? if yes, should the buds be harvested from dormant wood or should the bud be harvested during growing season. if the latter, presumably, it could still survive 2-3 days in the mail if wrapped in moist paper? am happy to try and gaft using the budding technique. anyone willing to trade/sell me some budwood?

I'm in Vancouver, too -- we planted a fig (Peter's Honey) on the west side of our house early last summer -- although not against the house, out in the yard. Anyway, my understanding is they do just fine with that kind of exposure. Just watch watering, especially the first few years while they get established. When I picked out figs my only concern was that they would ripen well in our climate; I don't think it's a huge issue but since we aren't likely to have more than one fig I wanted to get one that would do really well for us. I've seen other mature fig trees in the neighborhood that seem to be thriving, anything from full sun to one that only gets partial sun because it's mixed in with other trees, so that part shouldn't be a big issue for you. I don't have experience with apples here but I do know some diseases (apple scab, anthracnose, and powdery mildew) are a real problem in western WA and you want to get disease-resistant varieties for best results. I personally wouldn't even mess with apples that don't have proven resistance but that depends on your tolerance for maintenance and spraying. I'm sure others who have had more experience will chime in. Good luck, and happy growing!