Jumping in with both feet on fruit trees

[ColtyJr]

Bought some land last fall and trying to produce a little more at home. Put in 7 fruit trees so far along with a number of berry bushes I believe my spacing is pretty good but I'm just a greenhorn when it comes to this. I planted Bartlett Pear, Kieffer Pear, Yellow Delicious Apple, Red Delicious Apple, Macintosh Apple, Majestic Peach, and Reliance Peach. Spaced them in 10 yard quadrants with the pears having a little bit more breathing room. What am I missing, need to know or have already messed up. I'm in 6A growing zone Thanks

 

[menhaden_man]

Buy some plums and apricots. You can neglect them like step children and they produce like beasts.

Nectarines and peaches are behind them.

Apples, pears, and cherries are for professionals or retired folks .

Talk to some local folks that know what they’re doing and listen hard.

Good luck it’s fun.

 

[Beendare]

Consider pollinators....a key part of some fruit trees.

The varmints will find them...have a plan for that.

I had to remove my fantastic Pluots...the squirrels wiped them out.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Chestnut trees, almonds, nectarines, honeycrisp apples, persimmons

 

[Jimbuck]

If you’re looking to get into it as a hobby long term, look into propagation methods like grafting, stool beds etc. It’s a really fun hobby.

 

[NCTrees]

Paint the main stem white up for the first couple feet, reasonably close to first branch. You can buy the expensive stuff, I use flat white latex with no ill effects so far. If you have wind, brace them to keep the root ball from getting wind shook. You can use t-posts doubled over baling wire and a piece of garden hose around the trunk to keep from rubbing. Fertilize a little after bud break. Fence for deer if you can. Prune them into a “wine glass” type growth pattern next winter.

 

[snowymtnwolf]

Fence em for years and years

Bunnies like near the ground too to nibble up tree.

But the deer like the high stuff

I kept cages on for 5 years. Then took them off for the next batch and deer destroyed em

Keep cages on long time (unsure of what year to remove, depends)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Doc Holliday]

Zone 8A here. Main things I think are to make sure you have some pollinators where needed, allow enough room to get around them with your tractor, and cage them. I use 2 t-posts and wire fencing

 

[Mt Al]

Zone 6A?? I'm in like zone -10Z so not sure how this helps.
Plant pollinators, we use nanking cherry bushes.
Prune after watching Youtube pros prune. Prune I say!!
Plenty of sun - we have had to cut down aspens and poplars that crowded out the shade to our plum trees. Was amazed at what a difference that made.
Not sure about the whole nitrogen fixing thing, but it seems to work in our yard. We plant caraganas, which are actually a legume, and our trees and berry bushes seem to grow better near them, but the ones that aren't near do well also.
Grapes, can't have too many grapes and they grow like weeds and pump out fruit year after year. When we had chickens they loved eating the vines. I just let them grow and hack them back with shears vs. perfect vinyard style. But if I had a vinyard I would follow those methods.

Please take pics towards the end of the season and show us how it's going!

 

[Teodoro]

We've had very good luck with figs.

Mulberrys are very easy to grow and produce prodigiously. Most people don't love the fruit, though I am a fan. More importantly, it's excellent for stretching other fruit when making things like jam.

White clover is very popular with pollinators and will fix nitrogen. It's also very easy to grow and the seed is very easy to get. If you're in an area where it's native, mountain mint is the hands down favorite for drawing the biggest variety and number of pollinators in our yard. It blooms well after fruit trees make fruit, but you really want to offer pollen for the entire growing season, to encourage the wee beasties to live in your area.

If you think you want nut trees, get planting soon, because they take a long time to bear.

 

[Fordguy]

I was in zone 6a for most of my life. The area that I was in my stone fruits (peaches, plums, and nectarines) all had fungal issues that killed them. The plums lasted the longest, maybe 7 years, peaches lasted 4-5 years and the nectarines were dead by 3 years. Pears did well, specifically keiffers and claps favorite those trees are still producing now some 20 years after I planted them. Keiffers is better canned than eating fresh. It's a tough tree, and fire blight resistant. I had a variety of apples golden delicious, granny Smith, Winesap, Fuji, dolgo crab, and a wide variety of seedling crabapples that I planted as future pollinators and wildlife distractions.

I spent some time after highschool working in an orchard. I'd advise the filliwing- Don't neglect the pruning. A properly pruned apple tree is an ugly tree, but you'll get better fruit and reduce the instance of disease. Most fruit trees have narrow crotch angles, train branches to grow at (or close to) 90 degrees from the trunk. You'll reduce storm damage and branches will be less likely to split from the trunk (though I doubt anything is going to help much when the deer get hungry).
I currently have 50-60 fruit trees, It's a lot of work, but nice to grow your own fruit.

 

[Rich M]

I have an everbearing mulberry and it is great - in city so all we do is feed flocks of birds, coons, possums, etc. They look like blackberries and the taste is less tart.

Fruit trees are nice. If you are planning on eating the fruit, get what you like. If not get stuff that is persistent like apples and chestnuts. Soft fruits rot fast and have no longevity.

I would include a cluster or two of the favored oaks trees for the area.

Enjoy!

 

[LostArra]

Spacing for mowing, not just now but the future.
Deer fencing

 

[doc holiday13]

Squirrels will eat your pears. fawkers

 

[Macintosh]

I'm way north of you, we are on the border between zones 3 and 4, so I dont know if or how it will be different, but my take:
I dont like to use chemicals if I can avoid it. So I pick apple varieties based on disease resistance, as well as time of year they drop fruit. Most of the semi-wild apples on my property drop in september, so to augment that I am only adding very late-dropping varieties, which around me means apples that drop into october, and crabapple varieties that drop into the winter. I imagine in zone 6 you dont have an issue protecting trunks from critters burrowing in the snow, so aside from that everything else I would add has already been mentioned, caging, pruning, etc.

 

[Teodoro]

Squirrels will eat your pears. fawkers

To quote an elderly fellow from around here: "You don't need a squirrel deterrent, you need a recipe."

 

[doc holiday13]

To quote an elderly fellow from around here: "You don't need a squirrel deterrent, you need a recipe."

I like that guy.. My squirrel dog doesn't seem to hunt squirrels in my yard so I have to resort to deterrents... grumble grumble

 

[FLATHEAD]

I transplanted a volunteer loquat late last Summer and was doing fine.
Until the rut hit. Danged buck wore it out.
Didnt think it was going to survive, but looks like it might make it now.

 

[Fordguy]

I'm way north of you, we are on the border between zones 3 and 4, so I dont know if or how it will be different, but my take:
I dont like to use chemicals if I can avoid it. So I pick apple varieties based on disease resistance, as well as time of year they drop fruit. Most of the semi-wild apples on my property drop in september, so to augment that I am only adding very late-dropping varieties, which around me means apples that drop into october, and crabapple varieties that drop into the winter. I imagine in zone 6 you dont have an issue protecting trunks from critters burrowing in the snow, so aside from that everything else I would add has already been mentioned, caging, pruning, etc.

I had problems with vole and mouse damage under the snow and rabbit damage above the snow on any trees that weren't protected with screen or hardware cloth in 6a. Those little buggers can girdle a small tree overnight.

 

[Ralphie]

Along with the growing zone your soil and water are pretty important
I’d see what your university extension might have for you for resources specific to your location