The idea is so enticing: one tree with multiple kinds of fruit. It could be peaches, plums, and apricots all on the same trunk, or it could be oranges, mandarins, and grapefruit all on the same trunk. Or it could be different apple varieties that ripen at different times — from summer through fall — all on the same trunk.

It is possible. This kind of fruit tree can exist in your yard. Yet, if we’re honest, the management of growing such a tree can be tedious and relentless.

I’ve grown many multi-graft fruit trees and I’ve seen even more in other yards. In this post I’ll relate the mistakes I’ve made and seen, along with how to avoid them so that you can grow multi-graft fruit trees successfully in the long term.

Paint and label grafts

If you buy a multi-graft tree, it usually comes with each variety painted a different color near the graft union and there should also be a label describing each variety. If you make your own multi-graft tree, you should paint the grafts similarly and label them yourself.

Then, soon after planting or grafting, it becomes your job to maintain these identifiers. The paint will not last forever so you need to repaint every few years.

And labels must also be adjusted or replaced. Be careful not to leave labels wrapped tightly around a branch or it will soon girdle the branch. My current preference is to use aluminum Emboss-O-Tags connected to loosely tied, green nursery tape (as shown in the photos above) for labeling varieties on multi-graft trees.

If you don’t keep up on the painting and labeling of the grafts, you risk losing track of where they are and making pruning mistakes.

Prune to subdue the strong

Always on a multi-graft fruit tree there will be faster and slower growers. Sometimes there is one very weak variety or one very strong variety. Your job is to keep your eye on that strong grower and subdue it such that it does not ultimately kill off its weaker neighbors.

This can happen. My aunt had a multi-graft apple tree that over the course of about a dozen years became only an Anna apple tree. Because my aunt hadn’t known of the pruning maintenance required, Anna had overgrown and shaded out all of the weaker varieties.

A few years back, I grafted Splash pluot onto a Flavor King pluot tree. Splash grows faster than Flavor King so I’ve had to constantly prune back Splash in order to keep it from encroaching too far into the Flavor King portion of the canopy.

Orientation of varieties

To aid in equalizing the growth of the different varieties on a multi-graft tree, it is wise to orient them properly if you know the relative vigor of each variety before you plant the tree or graft it. Place strong growers on the north side, and place weak growers on the south side. (The south side gets more sun energy than the north.)

If you’re planting a multi-graft tree, then have a look at the amount of growth of each variety and place the variety with the least growth to the south.

If grafting a multi-graft tree, then site the graft of the strongest variety on the north side of the canopy. For example, on a multi-graft avocado tree I created, I placed Zutano on the north side because I knew that it was the fastest-growing variety. I placed Edranol, the slowest variety, on the south side.

Example of a mistake

When I planted a Dapple Dandy pluot tree and grafted on a branch of Flavor Grenade pluot, I hadn’t known which variety was more vigorous so I grafted the Flavor Grenade onto the west side. That first summer it became clear that Dapple Dandy was more vigorous, but instead of cutting it back in order to maintain light and space for the Flavor Grenade branch, I allowed the Dapple Dandy to grow unchecked.

That was the beginning of my mistake. That was nine years ago. Today, the Flavor Grenade branch is barely alive and produces only a couple pieces of fruit each year because I never did subdue the much stronger growth of Dapple Dandy. (Later, I decided to just plant an entire, new Flavor Grenade tree.)

Multi-graft fruit trees in motion, and with sound!

Here I take a walk through my yard to talk about some of the multi-graft trees I am growing:

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