The ability of gardeners to control trees and plants never ceases to amaze me. Check out this video from Practical Primate where he shows off a fruitful pair of pecan trees that have been kept small by being planted in the same hole:

The Backyard Orchard Culture concept is wonderful – I love the possibilities. Pecans normally get to be way too large for a small yard, but with some ingenuity it seems that is no longer a problem.

Here is where he does some more pruning to adjust the vigor and sizes of these pecans:

Note also that he is growing a jackfruit right near his pecans. That means these pecans are growing in the tropics. Not what you would expect, is it?

One final note on this video: though it was correct to remove those big limbs, if you really want to reduce vigor, summer pruning is recommended – not winter pruning. Prune for shape in winter, prune to reduce vigor in summer, when growth is high.

This reminds me, I have some chestnut trees I need to plant – I think I’ll do a double on a pair of those and see what happens.

You won’t find much about this kind of pruning and training on the web, as most of the data on growing fruit and nut trees is targeted at commercial growers. This is why we need an army of backyard experimenters sharing their experiences like Practical Primate is doing. Imagine growing all your own vegetables plus a great variety of fruits and nuts in an average backyard! Many people think they only have space for a few fruit trees, but that assumption is being proved wrong again and again by clever backyard gardeners and nurserymen like those at Dave Wilson Nurseries.

Go ahead – Grow a Little Fruit Tree!