How To Grow A Fruit Tree Faster | The Multiyear Hole 

I wanted to add a few points here on the process, some clarifications, and summarize a lot of the common questions I got. 1) You ABSOLUTLEY can just dig a hole slightly bigger than the root ball, pop the tree in, cover, water, and mulch and call it a day. This is how most people plant trees and it works! I am trying this method because it should speed up the initial root growth and I am curious! 2) It is called a multiyear hole because in an ideal world you would spend 2+ years amending and preparing soil to be perfect. This means amending, cover cropping, mulching, and cycling organic matter into the soil. By following the procedure I show in the video you are shortcutting that time by forcing the soil to be as if it was amended for years. This makes it a multiyear hole as it saves you multiple years of working the soil before planting. 3) If you have true CLAY soil like +70% clay than this method might not be great for you. The surrounding water will drain into the hole you dug and can lead to root rot. If you have some sand and silt with your clay, like I do, then it should be able to drain just fine. There is also the caveat of climate, in San Diego we average 10-12 inches of rain a year so drowning roots is really a non-issue for me! 4) I like to test old rules and see if they apply to me. Many recommendations that people take as fact are based on regional climate, soil, and many other factors. A recommendation that has come up a lot recently is to NEVER put organic matter like compost in the ground as it can cause rotting. I personally disagree, as you test soil over the years you will see organic matter increase year after year at depth. This can even happen in a no-till setting as things like worms dig up and down drawing organic matter through the soil layers and also pooping. Roots that decompose at depth also become organic matter. Double digging involves adding compost at depth and has been practiced for 100s of years with massive production alongside it. It is a all about the details, if you add a straight pile of compost at the bottom and don't mix it and put roots on top of that then it yes it may cause root rot. If you blend it with some topsoil before placing your roots then the odds of root rot decrease dramatically. It is all about the details! 5) I love your questions and I will do the best to answer as many as I can! Don't be afraid to ask questions and challenge me because I truly enjoy the discussion it creates and I won't be right about everything!

Jokes on you, I made a special little graft on your tree in the middle of the night…

So interesting to watch. I grew up in a family that was forever planting trees. Many wind shelters. I was always told that yes the depth is important but making the hole wider was paramount. My Mom was an avid gardener. It will be lovely to watch the progress of your fruit trees. Thank you for sharing this ❤❤❤

We are SO PROUD to be a part of your growing success! Happy Gardening 2024, Jacques! 🌱🙌

I also learned that it is very important to heavily prune bare-root trees when planting them because when they were torn out of the earth they were growing in, a large part of the root was torn off as well. So the root system that is left is not large enough to support the canopy above it anymore, hence the need to severely prune the canopy. It made a lot of sense to me.

Growfully With Jenna did a great video on this too and refers to it as digging a $50 hole for a $5 tree

I just planted a cherry tree this morning in my NorCal 10a garden! I didn't think I could grow cherries here (too warm) but this little Royal Crimson cherry only needs 200-300 hours of chill and is self-fruiting. It's a brand new cultivar and I can't wait to get some fruit! My pear and apple both fruited on the second year so we'll see. Sadly I just dug a plain hole.

Geologist shoutout with the rite in the rain book. I still use them for all of my notes and logging as well and especially in the garden.

It doesn't make the hater comments easier, but the best scientists always get at least a little heat. I appreciate you testing things like this, it's the best part about the channel tbh. If we aren't trying new things and showing the data to people, then wtf are we even doing.

A lady who had much more plant experience than myself once warned me about digging when the ground was too wet, like what you were saying. She said doing so would create a basin that wouldn’t drain because of the heavy clay soil we have in NE Ohio.

I like the depth of detail in your explanations - easier to hear than the newly gardener stuff. Thanks.

Thank you! Perfect timing since I have 12 bare root fruit trees coming in tomorrow

can you/epic gardening do a video on Espalier fruit trees. just made a compromise with my mom, that if I make the trees look aesthetic I can plant fruit trees 😂

All the cabbage content has been giving me life I can’t wait to grow some like that one day!!

Hi Jacques! Perfect timing as I will be helping my mom with a tree transplant. Your garden looks incredible!

This video couldn't have come at a better time! I have bare root trees coming in March. I feel more confident now!😊

Fruit trees are my favourite, so I'm so excited that you're looking into expanding your range and will be doing some more fruit tree content in future! 😁

I’m planning my own fruit orchard this year and your video was super helpful! Thanks so much for this.

I literally can't wait to see the fruit trees in a couple of years! Looks great!!!

Interesting to watch and makes good sense for bad soil. Will be Interesting to see how it grows. Thanks for sharing. 🌳

Whittling skills coming in handy. Had to review this again for pruning and spacer instructions-just planted a new pear and apple today. Thanks, Jacques!

One thing i see to often is people digging a multi year hole and only filling the hole with compost, this can be a problem for a couple years as the tree has no access to mineral/metals rich soil.. its crucial that you mix in a little sand gravel or whatever was in the native soil. If this isnt done then the tree mY struggle to grow and balance itself. Love the video, cant wait to see updates on the tree's growth next year 👍🏽

Watching you prune that tree so aggressively gave me the confidence to prune the trees I planted last spring a bit further than I did previously, thanks for the great information

What a great detailed and informative video! Thanks so much!

Jacques, this was so very informative! I learned so much with your great teaching. I canNOT wait to get some fruit trees!

I really like this method! I will be implementing this with any new fruit trees I buy. Thanks for sharing.

Always look forward to your videos! Thank you!

So when I do a tree which I should be planning a tree soon, I don’t remember who told me if it was a landscaper or someone but it works when I plan a fruit tree or any tree flower tree in the hole I make very large I also put a 2 inch PVC pipe in there to come all the way up from the root to the top and as you put your soil and your compost and whatever mold or whatever you want When you want to water that tree, you can water directly into the PVC pipe and it goes down to the roof now I have done this with a flowering tree before the orchid flower and that plant where that tree grew so fast and it was beautiful until we got a freeze real bad here in Texas But that concept of putting a PVC pipe in with your bearing the soil in and to feed it just feed directly to the pipe it works. I’m telling you it works. I don’t know if you’ve ever done that before if you heard it but I’ve done it. I haven’t planted trees in so long, but I’m getting ready to plant a crabapple and I will try this method with the crabapple.

Fantastic video! Thanks for all the effort you put into making this! I learned a lot!!!

Thanks for finally letting me know what this giant monstrous but beautiful “pride of Madeira” is!

It’s amazing that you have over 360k followers. I remember when you reached 10k. You’re still amazing

You are a very good teacher Jacques! Thanks so much for these great instructions.

(aka Cathy Brock). Thank you for this full planting video, I am looking to put in fruit trees, this was very beneficial and educational. Would love to see more video's as you plant out the rest of you new trees.

I loved this video! We actually got a couple fruit trees ourselves!

Thank you Jacques! Excellent info. I’ve followed the directions on the bare root bag that the trees come in. I agree with your planting info and most of what you offered was almost the same as the bag recommendations. I didn’t wiggle my trees as you recommended or added fertilizer. Fingers crossed that the trees will still do well.

I loved this! My favorites are probably garden chore vlogs but an end-to-end process is so good too.

hoping to plant out my first ever fruit trees this season! Thinking apple, pear, and peaches! Dope video! Loving the content you've been pumping out!

Last year, I grew 23 apple, 17 pear, and 3 plum trees from seed. I planted 2 of the plums along with 3 service berries. I'll be picking out my healthiest 2 pears and apples to plant this fall. I also have 4 Pawpaw trees I started from seed last year. We'll see if they make it through the winter before I plant them in the yard. Today, I planted 15 peach pits that had sprouted in the fridge. Hopefully, I'll have fruit in 4-7 years. Thanks for the video!

my favourite plant in the background. Strelitzias. i have 3 monsters in my front garden. Love them. and love this video too thank you, so useful.

good job

Just in time! Ive got fruit trees to plant in heavy clay. Thank you!

thank you sir, we appreciate you!

Looking forward to seeing the growth and progress with this tree….fantastic comprehensive video. Thank you!

Can't wait to see the results

Thanks for those amazing pruning tips! And I love your outfit Jacques! 😃

You should watch some of Gary matsuoka's RU-vid videos on 'ideal soil'. He says no compost or organic matter in the hole (peat is an exception). As it's decomposing, it will use up all the oxygen and cause roots to die or rot. Even most resources say not to amend the soil for trees as they tend to not want to grow outwards. If you have clay soil, you want to amend with anything that allows for drainage or aeration. Sand, perlite, pumice, lava rocks, etc. I think holes amended with compost are why do many avocado trees die.

You are just so informative very detailed . I love all your ❤❤videos

I loved your video, I like to water into the empty hole a bit then with each layer of back fill.

Love the tree ❤ thanks for the tips 👌

Thank you for such a detailed and informative video. In Mexico we use something similar to Ivy Organic. It’s a mixture of 50% lime and 50% water. (3 or 4 coats) the purpose is to protect the fruit tree from the sun, and to prevent insects to land on/or to climb up the tree.

Love the content!❤

Thank you for this info. Totally helpful.🥳

Thank you!

Great timing for me. I have a Cara Cara Orange tree that needs to get planted. I am going to try this multi year hole recipe…wish me luck! 😊

Nice job. That is how we've planted for years and they do great. My only critiques are hard pruning a tree a day before a rain storm. But, should be ok.

Love the fruit tree content jacques im excited for you to get peaches my peach tree is my favorite plant

I've been dying for you to post!!!!!! Hehehe

What wonderful timing. We have two plum trees arriving soon. Even though our trees are fruit trees, they haven't produced any fruits and they have been in the garden for years. I will give this method a try. Thank you.

Very comprehensive video on planting bare root trees. Thank you Jacques! Wish you would have posted this before I had planted my two peach trees and one cherry tree last week. Darn! I'm surprised that you didn't stake your new planting. Where I live we get very high winds and staking is a must.

Thanks Jacques for the quality video as always! Excited to hear that you are going to be making more fruit tree videos. I am a renter and would love a video on planting fruit trees in containers. Hopefully someday I'll have a place where I can plant in-ground, but until then I'd love to know if it is possible to get any meaningful yield from a tree in a big pot.

Excellent 🎉🎉🎉 I subscribed to your channel 🙏

Jacques! Great real stuff. As a person experienced growing fruit trees in heavy clay and attempting this multi year hole method be careful about root rot! I know this probably isnt of a concern typically in San Diego but if you get a lot of rain, this is going to be an area where your water collects since the rest of the ground subsoil is much more dense and compact. It’s gonna take a lot longer for water from a heavy rain to permeate through your native soil and more than likely it’s going to collect in your Hole that you just dug. You may want to dig a deeper hole near the trees hole that will help collect water or you can add another swale to re-direct overwatering away from the tree.

I see you have a bird of paradise would love to see a video of that I have one im growing indoors

Nicely explained 👍🇮🇳

I didn’t know this method had a name. This is the only way I’ve ever planted trees!!!

Hubs told me i could pick out a plant for valentines day... he didn't count on me choosing a 4 in one cherry!!! Im growing in a pot... please do a pot video for fruit video!

Heavy clay soil, small yard. My fruit trees r in 25 gal pots, some air-pruned, some not. Never sure in socal when to prune/feed. N how deep to plant. This vid helped some.

This is helpful. We just ordered 3 fruit trees for April, but we have the worst heavy clay soil. We have plenty of trees, but I was worried about the young ones. I think I'll try this. (At least, I think I'll try it until I have to start digging out heavy clay soil. 😂)

hi jacques 🤗 how did you know that i just bought fruit trees TODAY?!? 2 blueberry varieties, 1 peach and a nectaplum (wanted to try something new). please do a video (or direct to one you've already done) on growing fruit trees in pots. i dont have the yard space to put them in the ground (an apple and cherry tree already took over the area - lol). tfs

Now this makes sense, thank you❤. Multi type fruit tree sources?

Hey Jacques my first ever seed starts are sprouting and I want to thank you for all your seed starting videos they've really given me a good foundation of education to build my new garden off of! This video came just in time I just bought my home and was wanting to plant a celebratory fruit tree and with the hard clay soil here in Texas I was a little unsure if it would thrive. Also, do you think you'll ever cut back all the overgrowth near your new tree, that one bush is absolutely massive!

Around 20-30 years ago, the dogma was to dig huge holes and add back with amendments. More recently, the dogma shifted to not using amendments because you supposedly want your trees/(roses/shrubs) to adapt to the actual native soil, building better long term root systems. So go figure. Your pendulum is swinging back to the heavily amended giant hole…. I grew some spectacular, huge roses after digging hip-deep holes in nasty clay, then amending. It certainly worked. Not sure which school of thought to follow now that I’m planting fruit trees this spring.

Nice video! It would be nice to know more about what fruit trees your planted and to also have some information about each variety! It's nice to see a fruit tree! Love fruit trees! hehehe 😋

Thanks for this video shock. It explains quite a bit and I am planting a fruit tree tomorrow. The last couple years I’ve planted some fluids. We already had a peach and a nectarine. But we have golfers and they got my last plout

Will be interesting to see if it was worth the extra work and hassle. Cool concept

YESSS more fruit trees

I'm in Garland Texas. It's all thick clay we call gumbo. Sigh every time I see yall dig so easy I'm jealous. I raise bed garden because the clay is so hard to improve.

Halo my friend Thank you for sharing

Hey bud, that’s a good looking hole you’ve got there.

Based on the thumbnail, I thought you were Huck Finn lol…love the vids.

Hi Jacques! Nice big hole! I'm planning a new garden and have been a subscriber to yours and the Epic channels for quite a while now. Then several fruit tree guild videos popped up in my RU-vid feed just this week. They are so beautiful and make so much sense that I'm changing my original design to incorporate fruit trees and in guild form. Hey you know about Permaculture - have you ever considered making fruit tree guilds? If so, then what do you think about them?

I am curious to see how this works out. I have been told not to do this as it encourages the tree to stay in the amended area and not reach out into the native soil. TBH I don’t know if it’s true though

Missouri is red clay and ROCKS... and lots of roots etc. Digging a 2 ft x 3ft hole is quite an undertaking for an old lady.... I know some who have done this, and they like it.

Thanks for the video Jacques. This inspired me to get another for a spot that just opened up in my yard. I decided to go with a 4 in 1 Asian Pair tree. One thing I'm concerned about is the planting depth. I did my best to keep the feeder roots close to the surface but after I watered the tree in they are now exposed. Can I just leave them be or should I cover them with mulch or garden soil? Thanks and keep the videos coming.

I really enjoyed this video, it was so informative, when you started pruning the tree.....I was like OH NO TOO MUCH PRUNING, but then I understood the benefit in the long run. In addition, "painting" the tree was something new to me, would this product work when I prune my rose branches or lilac tree? Thank you Jacque for sharing I was unaware you had your own channel, I see you a lot on Epic Gardening, are you are Kevin close neighbors?

Also put shovel sticks for shade tarps sitting shelter and stability for weather especially at first

You should also make sure the graft point faces north to minimize the risk of sun scald.

I did that with a maple and it grew really fast.

What I'd like to see you do is plant some support species to help the tree and create more food at the same time; a ground cover layer, shrub layer, vine layer, chop n' drop around the tree etc.

I like to put a big dead log inside that the roots can latch on to. Figure it can eventually anchor itself on it. That shouldn't hurt it right? Thanks I learned alot should have subbed a long time ago.

I got a nectarine at Costco for $20 I had my doubts it’s in the ground and growing well. Can’t wait for next year to find more barefoot trees.

Great information, where can I purchase a three -in-one tree?

So as you know I’m in Poway. After watching your videos with Kevin at Walter Anderson I made my way there haha. I bought a cherry, peach, and Asian pear bare root trees. I have 25 gallon containers I need to fill. What bagged soil/potting mix should I go for? Since we both live in San Diego I was hoping for your personal advice

@jacquesinthegarden have you used copper or other wire for bug repellent?

Along with stabbing the sides, I have seen other gardeners recommend digging perfectly square holes, no rounded sides at all. The theory is that if there is no rounded wall to divert the root in a circular direction, the root is forced to keep punching forward. I think I'm going to try combining both methods on the next tree I plant.

Love

Pah, call that an 'ole, you should see my 'ole.

Jaques, I actually have enjoyed your content actually since almost the actual start so I feel like you can actually understand that this critique is actually coming from a place of appreciation and not actually meant to be taken actually hateful in any actual way.... Actually I throughly enjoy the channel actually and I'm not actually sure if I've actually expressed that actually enough, LITERALLY 💜🤭🤭💜

Awesome!! I love fruit trees. Excited to watch it grow. Would you ever get nut trees?

I plant in clay all the time the cool part is you can have bricks and break them down so imagine plating the tree with seeds and finish the top with seeds and golf balls of clay then plant flowers and cover with flower seeds soil and clay and grass you can create a crust and if you rake into them you can release water later on and the seeds can break the surface and allow water penetration