(Altadena Mara) Peach trees don't last that long so are gone in around ten to fifteen years, from my experience at least. A foursome of plum trees also died over a ten to fifteen year period. One foursome of apricots had two trees die. One of them that was left was especially good so I let them grow full size. A three some of apricots is hard to keep cut back but doable. In a three citrus, one sapote cluster, the sapote has grown four times the size of the south placed citrus but is trained away from them so they still are growing and producing. I wish I had not planted the sapote there, another citrus on the same rootstock would have been better, but the sapote fruit are too delicious to remove it. I have several threesome of fig trees which aren't doing that well, compared to individual trees planted elsewhere, are about half the size, but are still producing a nice crop of figs. Banana trees make their own foursome, given half a chance and a little time. I would suggest that if you have a favorite fruit, plant it by itself. If you moderately like several different fruit, fruiting over time, plant a three or four cluster.

I have wrapped above ground pots with aluminum foil, shiny side out, fastened with duct tape. I have also painted above ground pots white. I mulched with coarse limesstone which is also white, or with perlite. Perlite is too flulffy and tends to blow away. Even with these methods, I had to water figs daily in the summer, and Texas summer is hotter than Washington state summer where I live. I atually checked with a thermometer, and the foil and white mulch does keep the soil at least 10 to 15 degrees cooler, but I don't think that's good enough in hot weather. The leaves also transpire more water in hot weather. I also tried a pot-in-pot method, putting a potted fig into a 1/2 wine barrel that was about 6 inches wider, painted white, and I had styrofoam peanuts around it for insulation to keep it cool. That tree also dried out more on hot days, than the in-ground trees. It did stay cooler than leaving it exposed, however. Some fig forum members have planted their potted figs in the ground. I did a seaarch and I haven't found those entries, but I remember them pretty well. The general idea was that the trees grew roots through the holes in the pots, and when they were dug up, those roots were cut off. This makes digging them a challenge, so one grower used pots that had its bottom holes covered, and had holes in the sides at the bottom. I guess they used a 3/4" drill or something similar, to cut those holes. That was easier to work with. Depending on how big your trees are, they should also be top-pruned and root-pruned while dormant. That helps keep them from transpiring too much water in the summer and also from becoming too root bound. Hopefully someone more expert than I am will also respond, but this should be a little helpful. In the end, my potted fig efforts resulted in fruit drop during hot weather, so I planted mine in-ground again. Some growers have great success with containers, so this year I am thinking about growing containinerized figs again due to cold winter scares December 2008.

Joe, Just read some of your questions. A five gallon bucket might be a little too small. Sooner or later it will hold your trees back. Better to convert a 18-gallon storage tub by adding drainage holes along the bottom SIDES of the tub, and fill it with a quick draining mix. Plant your tree in this, and you will be good for 4-5 years. Containerized trees MUST have there roots pruned every 3-5 years, and potted back up with new growing mix. You can still use the original, 18 gallon container indefinitely, as long as it is in good condition. Home Depot sells these storage tubs for less than $10.00. They are also straight-sided, so, take up less room when storing. If you group four containers together into a square, a fifth container can be stacked on top where all four corners come together. Saves space. (Use a dolly to roll the trees around. Dollies prevent hernias). An unheated garage will probably be warmer than outside, and the killing, drying, winds will not be a problem. Try to do whatever it takes to avoid the deep, hard freezing around containerized roots. Maybe a thermostatically controlled heater can come on just to keep the trees above freezing....heating cables around the tubs...small light bulbs under each tub...large cardboard boxes, inverted over each tub will hold/trap residual warmth from the cement floor...etc. It depends on how many trees you will plant to store. Even very low-wattage Christmas lights woven around the tubs will help with the warmth, and only costs a few cents a month to use. When growing season arrives, you can place the containerized trees into a shallow hole, container and all, and pile mulch up the sides of the containers. Roots will eventually grow out of the SIDE HOLES of your tubs, then into the ground. Your trees will love the extra, root room in the cool soil. You can run a sharp spade down and along the sides of your tubs when it turns cooler, and time to store the figs in the garage once again. If you drill drainage holes into the flat, bottom section of the tub, wandering roots will be impossible to sever with a spade without a lot of back-breaking digging. Growing your fig trees will be easy. Keeping them alive, and undamaged, from year to year, not so much. You will be able to do it without any problems if you plan for the harsh winters. Your unheated garage will be an asset, and will save your trees. Grow in containers and do the "fig shuffle". Bring trees into, and out of, storage like many other fig fanatics. Like I said....Zone-5 Ohio ain't sunny, Greece. Good luck. Frank

Now you are looking at the same addition from the south to north. This is the area that was scraped down to red clay. I mentioned I planted directly in to a minimal clay hole and mulched as Ken has mentioned. They have never received any fertilizer except the organic matter from mulch. The H.'Blue Angel' on the right is about 6 foot wide; the reddish tree is Redbud 'Forest Pansy', beautiful deep wine new growth. The H.'BA' on the left are as big but I don't think they can be seen very well. The whole area is devoted to blue as a peaceful area. Note the rock slab bench below the dead cherry tree trunk in the center. You can see the driveway and the car from the previous picture. I sat root balls on top of a limestone driveway and mulched up to the top of the ball and nothing else.