Lovell + Citation, 3 in hole

[esung]

I'm thinking of putting Sugar May, Babcock and O'Henry peach trees, three in one hole. Babcock comes on Lovell and O'Henry/Sugar May on Citation rootstock. I understand "the directions" strongly suggest all the same rootstock in one hole. Any comments on this mix of three trees with two different rootstocks? Will it work fine or will there be a problem with Lovell dominating? Why doesn't the Babcock come on Citation rootstock?

[naclh2o]

It does. I purchased mine from Laguna Hills Nursery in '06. With our wet clay soil, Citation (and Citation Z stem) is all that I'll plant. That may be an area DWN can improve their website. Their variety locator is very useful as is. However, if they added an additional search parameter to confirm rootstock as well as variety, I'd be a home run!

[cebury]

I only have experience with Citation but from the ton of reading and board views most would say it isn't a show stopper. In some soils the dwarfing isn't significant. Plant the Babcock in the lower sunlight position.

Assuming both rootstock trees do well in your soil, you'll need to prune the Lovell one more aggressively during summer. Probably the worst case is you'll need to really "hack" it, but peaches handle this extremely well compared to other fruits.

All that said, I'm pretty picky and would want them to be identical. I'd at least visit all the local nurseries (phone calls rarely work to ask this specific of a question). I know all about your frustration with finding the right rootstock.