Ehhhh....what's up doc? Your pictures and link are busted.

I think you might just have to make the album public, bugsb. Or those 2 images, if that's possible. Otherwise, I get a request to login to Photobucket when I try to view them. :)

Happy Holidays!

Brenda

bugsb, I can't get the two pictures either, but I did get to the pictures of your backyard pond. Wow, looks like you converted your entire backyard into a huge pond, fantastic!

Couldn't get the photos, either.
Our weather is different (I'm near the coast - Arroyo Grande). However, citrus has worked great for me. Have A Bearrs Lime and Meyer lemon that have been potted for about 4 years and bear heavily.
Good luck - and hope to see your photos.

Thanks all for the info. As far as the photos go I am putting them on again and hope this time they show. If not the area is just a dirt patch about 4 feet wide and 100 feet long next to the deck/patio.
I had a hard drive failure a few days ago and maybe there is a problem on my formatting after I restored everything. If folks are still having a problem seeing my photos please let me know. I would really appreciate it. I can see the original posted photos with no problem so it may be as I say the way I have formatted.
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Here is a link that might be useful: My pond

I've had good luck with citrus planted in large pots about the size you mention. At one point I had limes, and tangerines on my third floor terrace. I don't think they were minatures but the size of the pots limited the growth. We usually have a mild freeze once a year but there is some protection provided by patio walls. Actually citrus is one of the easier things to grow provided you have lots of sun.

My experience with Whiskey barrels is that sooner rather than later, the barrel rots and the bottom falls out.

Citrus and Figs do well in large pots if the area gets full sun and if you can protect from frost. Other kinds of fruit trees do better in the ground.

There are Genetic dwarfs that you could plant. Nectarines and peaches come in dwarf size.

if you get semi-dwarf trees, you can maintain them at almost any size by summer pruning. One of the growers from Dave Wilson nurseries said that as long as you prune ABOVE the graft, you can keep a tree at 3' if you want.

Monrovia also puts out a pomegranate in a small, patio (lollipop) tree.

If you opt against using barrels, it looks like a good space for espaliered fruit trees.

wanda

I'd forget the whiskey barrels and plant espaliered trees in the ground.
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I recommend apples on Bud 9 rootstock spaced 24" apart, grown as a single trunk at a 45 degree angle (oblique cordon for the espalier police).

Applenut

Modesto area here. I have dwarf clementines on my patio and semi-dwarf apricots on an unfortunate concrete slab we inherited. All are in whiskey barrel sized planters and produce fruit.

I have a Kishu Mandarin and I really like it. I think it has unusual foliage for a citrus and the fruit is small but very tasty. I think it could be kept small with pruning.

I particularly like the Meyer Dwarf Lemon Tree because as it says in the dwarf fruit trees blog it makes a great starter gift and for your purposes if you don't end up liking the experiment with it on your own patio garden you could always just gift it on to someone else who should be getting started with dwarf fruit trees.

start with the Meyer Dwarf Lemon Tree

Here is a link that might be useful: Dwarf Fruit Trees Blog