Thank you Kyle!

I also took a deep dive into Eliza’s blog posts, as well as speaking with others who might have had experience. My Dad helped harvest apples 30 years ago on trees that were 120 years old, 20 feet tall, and 40 feet in diameter, producing 8-10 bins per tree. All the trees were in great health. This was a small block of about 5 acres in a much larger orchard. Sadly, all those trees were removed.

I believe the idea has merit and is worth exploring.

We did a project on cherries of growing trees in place, where we planted the desired rootstock when they were the size of pencil, and grafted a sleeping eye bud on that summer, then removed the rootstock top just above the bud the following winter. We were able to grow some exceptionally healthy trees very quickly, and harvest in the third leaf year.