Planting fruit trees

[maxwelhse]

I really do appreciate the insights. I wish I was kidding when I said never mind, my shoulder is so jacked up these days it takes me a month to get something done I used to be able to do in a week or less. Probably be a waste of money and effort to plant them as I won't be able to take care of them properly. Hopefully I can get a decent garden going next year, another thing I know nothing about so we'll see.

FWIW, I have planted 2 fruitless "fruit" trees as ornamental trees in the past and they're quite beautiful and NONE of the work... None of the food either, but none of the stinging insects as well (a personal problem for me) and no annual stress monster of feeling like you have to can/freeze/dry every parcel of fruit that comes off of them.

I had a plumb and a cherry. I'd go with the plumb twice if I had it to do over again. I just preferred that look.

 

[NKBJ]

Found that 4x8 remesh panels worked well for moveable fencing around individual trees, to keep the deer distanced.

 

[rem788]

"Hopefully I can get a decent garden going next year, another thing I know nothing about so we'll see." I recommend reading "The Joy of Gardening", I don't remember the author. It is a great book on gardening the easy way using, among other things, wide rows to reduce the need for weeding and so forth. You have to ignore all the advertising for the troy built rototiller but there is a wealth of information about gardening otherwise.

 

[phylodog]

I recommend reading "The Joy of Gardening", I don't remember the author. It is a great book on gardening the easy way using, among other things, wide rows to reduce the need for weeding and so forth. You have to ignore all the advertising for the troy built rototiller but there is a wealth of information about gardening otherwise.

Just bought it on Kindle, thank you for the recommendation.

 

[teddy12b]

On my property, I have probably planted over 60 different types of just fruit trees. I've planted everything I could find that'd grow in my zone. Peaches, Plums, Pear, Paw Paws, Persimmon, Apple, Cherry, and even a russian pomegranate and russian almond. If you're short on space, consider a "fruit cocktail" type of tree where a pro has grafted multiple varieties on one tree that can/will pollinate itself. I started planting trees on my property 8 years ago. I've had deer rub the bark off with their antlers and kill my trees. I've had trees not make it through exceptionally harsh winters just being fully exposed. I've had trees die for no reason. I've had trees die after I was overzealous and pruned way too much too early and another cold spell killed them. I've also had trees that year after year they continue to grow and get one step closer to producing food, and honestly it's been one of the most rewarding undertakings in my life.

I've bought my trees everywhere. I mean auctions on ebay, lowes, mom & pop nursery's and everywhere else I can find them. Having said that, when you buy trees, check out the root ball and remember that for when you go shopping the next year. I've got a new favorite place to buy fruit trees now and I'm very happy with them. If you're close to Hicksville Ohio check out "Straight Gate". They are hands down the best trees I've ever bought.

Planting trees really isn't that big of a deal and in the last year I've come across a new technique that has shown to work very well and was the easiest I've ever done. From here on out, I'll dig enough of a hole to get the root ball half way in, and then dump good garden soil around the edge of the root ball and build a good soil base around it.

Mulch, mulch, mulch. Where I live was farm ground almost a decade ago and the way farming is done now there's next to nothing left in the soil when it's over. The guy in the video talks about using untreated wood chips and mulch and that's the best thing I've ever seen or found. The more you mulch, the better you're going to turn that soil into a rich forest floor that will ultimately feed your trees. I've covered a 40x50 ish area in mulch before and thought it was so thick I'd never have a problem. Years later, you can't tell I ever put any down and that's great because it means it's mending the soil. It'll last a couple years, and I'm just behind on it now.

I've planted both in the spring and fall. I'd tend to agree that if you can, try to plant in the fall. At least that's what's seemed to work better in my area.

I've never sprayed a single tree and I've got nothing against it. I recently had a tree guy come out to my property this spring who is trying to sell that service and didn't think I needed anything other than more mulch.

I would really recommend this video series here. The guy is the fruit tree guru, and now that it's been a few years you can watch the videos in sequence and see how his pruning techniques work or don't work for what you are thinking of doing. He's based in California and not everything is going ot carry over directly, but there's a lot of lessons and wisdom to learn in this series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV2kr50K7Is&list=WL&index=10&t=9s

I never thought that planting trees and especially fruit trees would be such a rewarding experience in my life. I new when I started it was all new to me and fortunately I was able to plant enough trees that I could take casualties and still get some to make. My tree planting has been an accuracy by volume type of approach. The way I see it, if you've got the space for a fruit tree why wouldn't you plant one. Mark your calendar for when big box stores put them out on clearance and for $10 each you could have something that makes food for the rest of your life. I've made every mistake in the book with planting all my trees and last year when I picked my first apple off a tree that I planted and took a bite. It was one of the most rewarding and satisfying bites of fruit I've ever had in my life. Just my two cents.

 

[HoughMade]

When I had just the 2 trees, I made a circle of fence out to the drip line and then took 10- 8 foot long 1x2s (for each tree) and cut the ends into points. Then I ran them through the circle of fence at about deer chest level so that the pointed ends stick out and made it uncomfortable to try to get to the trees. I wish I had pictures.

Planting more trees, I pounded T-posts into the ground and got 7 foot tall deer netting and made an enclosure that is big enough for 2 more trees.

Here is a pic. It's not great because I was not taking a picture of the enclosure, but you get the idea.