Services

Topworking

Topworking, a grafting technique, is an excellent way to enhance mature fruit trees and introduce variety to home orchards. Rather than planting new trees and waiting years for fruit, topworking allows you to transform existing trees into new or multi-variety trees that produce fruit within just a few seasons. This approach saves time, water, and fertilizer.

Suitable for both young and mature trees, topworking offers flexibility—retaining the original variety on part of the tree or replacing it entirely—helping you maximize orchard space and diversity.

Grafting: A Versatile Technique for Bay Area Home Growers

Grafting is the process of joining one plant part to another, offering numerous benefits for home gardeners, especially in the Bay Area. Here’s why it’s worth considering:

  • Maximized Space Utilization: A multi-grafted tree allows you to grow multiple fruit varieties—or even different types of fruit—on a single tree. This is perfect for small yards where space is limited.
  • Extended Harvest Season: Grafted trees with various fruit varieties often have staggered ripening periods, providing a continuous harvest over several months.
  • Improved Pollination: Some fruit trees require cross-pollination for fruit production. Multi-grafted trees often include compatible varieties, ensuring proper pollination without the need for additional trees. Even self-fertile trees produce larger crops when other varieties are present.
  • Bay Area-Specific Advantage: Many properties in the Bay Area have wild plum trees, such as the Thundercloud Purple Leaf Plum. These trees serve as excellent rootstocks for grafting plums, apricots, peaches, pluots, nectaplums, and peacotums saving water, time, and fertilizer. 

By leveraging grafting, you can maximize your garden’s potential, even in a compact space.

A permaculture food forest is a sustainable approach to growing food, centered on establishing a foundation of edible perennials for long-lasting, low-maintenance harvests.

The Bay Area’s Mediterranean climate—characterized by mild, wet winters and dry summers—is particularly well-suited for a variety of perennial plants, fruit trees, and herbs.

With thoughtful design, a food forest can flourish with minimal water needs, especially when incorporating drought-tolerant and native species.

We provide support with:

  • Selecting the ideal fruit varieties
  • Suggesting effective disease prevention strategies and pest management solutions
  • Sourcing high-quality trees and varieties best suited to our climate
  • Ensuring proper planting techniques for new trees
  • Advising on optimal timing and techniques for thinning fruit

Here in the East Bay, the hilly terrain can make gardening challenging, but with our solutions, it’s absolutely achievable. When done correctly, not only can you garden successfully, but you’ll also help prevent soil erosion.

We offer engaging workshops and classes focused on gardening, plant propagation, and grafting, empowering participants with hands-on skills and practical knowledge.

Prices

Grafting Services (priced by location)

  • Lafayette, Moraga, Walnut Creek: $15 per graft (minimum of 4 grafts).
  • Pleasant Hill, Orinda, Concord, Martinez: $15 per graft (minimum of 6 grafts).
  • Alamo, Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton: Please call for a custom quote.

Topworking:

  • $15 per graft, plus additional charges for prep work based on time required.

Consultation Rates:

  • Phone Consultations: First consultation is FREE (up to 1 hour)
  • In-Person Consultations: $60/hour

Workshops/Classes:

  • Give us a call to learn about upcoming classes or to schedule a personalized session for you and your friends! 

Note: Mileage fees may apply when traveling to sites beyond a 10 mile radius of Lafayette, CA

Schedule a Free Phone Consultation