Planting Apple Trees

[sixdogs]

That sounds like some great pointers.. I'm guessing you start with bare root stock? Do you use any special potting mix in the buckets? I'm planning on putting a dozen or so trees in next year so much obliged for the tips !!

I get bare root in the early Spring via mail order and plant in a plastic pot roughly 9" by 9" with plain dirt from the back field. Potting mix will dry too fast in the sun. I line them up behind the house and broadcast a touch of 19-19-19 and we often water daily in the summer. It's easy since the hose will reach. Any weeds get sprayed with a mild generic Roundup solution.

In late August when we plant I dig a hole and put the potted plan in to see how it fits. When it does, I slice the bottom off the pot, put in back in the hole and slit one side to slip the pot off. Roots get minimal disturbance this way unless I slit them a little which is rarely. Don't do what these TV people do unless truly root bound, which is unlikely, or unless you want to set the tree back a year in growth.

This way has given me nearly a 100% success rate as long as I water for the first couple years when it's hot or dry. New trees love water and the right amount of fertilizer.

Mostly I do spruce trees and hardwoods but you can also dig volunteer maple trees this way. In fact, the maple trees in our yard blew in as seeds from the neighbor's place and we put the seedlings in pots. Any bare root or small tree does well in pots. Plus, if you live in a windy or cold area, tress started from seedlings fare much better than larger transplants.


I also know how to graft your favorite apple trees onto mail order apple tree rootstock with a near 100% success rate as well. Maybe over the winter someone will start a thread and I'll join it. This tree stuff is easy if you take the lazy man's way out.

 

[PRF]

I get bare root in the early Spring via mail order and plant in a plastic pot roughly 9" by 9" with plain dirt from the back field. Potting mix will dry too fast in the sun. I line them up behind the house and broadcast a touch of 19-19-19 and we often water daily in the summer. It's easy since the hose will reach. Any weeds get sprayed with a mild generic Roundup solution.

In late August when we plant I dig a hole and put the potted plan in to see how it fits. When it does, I slice the bottom off the pot, put in back in the hole and slit one side to slip the pot off. Roots get minimal disturbance this way unless I slit them a little which is rarely. Don't do what these TV people do unless truly root bound, which is unlikely, or unless you want to set the tree back a year in growth.

This way has given me nearly a 100% success rate as long as I water for the first couple years when it's hot or dry. New trees love water and the right amount of fertilizer.

Mostly I do spruce trees and hardwoods but you can also dig volunteer maple trees this way. In fact, the maple trees in our yard blew in as seeds from the neighbor's place and we put the seedlings in pots. Any bare root or small tree does well in pots. Plus, if you live in a windy or cold area, tress started from seedlings fare much better than larger transplants.


I also know how to graft your favorite apple trees onto mail order apple tree rootstock with a near 100% success rate as well. Maybe over the winter someone will start a thread and I'll join it. This tree stuff is easy if you take the lazy man's way out.

Great, thank you !! 9x9, sounds about the size of a gallon milk jug, wonder it that would work for pots?

 

[zing]

Not sure if it would work for the beavers, but around here people use roofing tin formed into a tube around the trunk and wire-tied, to protect against porcupines. Leave plenty of room for growth so you don't have to expand it for a few years. It should reach 30" high off of the ground so they can't grab the top and climb over, and the tin is too slick for the buggers to get their claws into and climb. Porcupine is a brutal pest around here because they like to girdle the tree bark, and once they do that everything above the girdle is dead. I lost two cherry trees, a pear tree and a number of birch before I heard about that trick. Haven't gotten around to replacing those trees yet, but when I do they will all have some tin around the base.

 

[sixdogs]

Great, thank you !! 9x9, sounds about the size of a gallon milk jug, wonder it that would work for pots?

Maybe. Have to try it but not sure I like the milk jug idea. Too tight and non-draining and bigger might be better anyway. There are a lot of used pots around and the 9x9 is a common size. we scrounge them here and there but you can also look at nursery or landscape auctions. You can buy a lot for a little. Make sure you have drain holes.

 

[rd_macgregor]

I bought some Scoot a number of years ago to protect the bark of seedlings I was putting in, but never used it...
Skoot Repellant - Animal Repellant - Pest Control
Assuming it works as advertised, the drawback would be having to re-apply it periodically.
Bob

 

[Henry]

I use my small 12 inch auger to plant Apple Trees, but I drill three holes close to one another and then clean things out with a diggin' bar and a shovel. I've got clay in my area and I was advised not to leave the holes with "slick walls", so I score up the holes with my shovel. I mix in some good soil from an old garden to create a good mixture. All of this has worked great for my trees.

As far as protection, a small chicken wire covering around the trunk will keep the mice away - don't mulch right up around the trunk. I've also put a ring of 4foot high wire fencing and fasten the fence to the ground with two pieces of 3' rebar. You can get the fencing at Tractor Supply or Home Depot.

Good Luck!

 

[forgeblast]

Look at http://www.fedcoseeds.com/forms/ft36cat_highres.pdf it has spacing, pruning etc. Great catalog also.

 

[California]

Everybody's conditions will be different. Deer and gophers are what eat new trees here.

We put 'deer fence' (1/2" plastic mesh) around 1"x1" stakes that are slanted outward. This discourages deer from nibbling on new buds for the first few years.

Last year we planted 85 trees and immediately lost five to gophers. It's discouraging to water a week-old tree and it falls over because there is nothing left underground. We replanted these elsewhere and I think one made it. Beyond that the rest are coming along fine.

We use wire cages from the garden store ($5~10 each) under the occasional family fruit trees we plant, but not for the commercial apple orchard.

The backhoe does a great job of preping a planting site. In my case I'm always digging out a decades-old stump so I dig a cavity at least the size of a card table plus follow the old roots outward as needed. Then refill and pack down with the tractor tires, level, then dig a planting hole with the backhoe or just a shovel.

Here's my watering rig. An IBC Tote is a perfect fit on the little Harbor Freight 40x48 trailer. I had to strengthen the tongue, otherwise no problem pulling 2600 lbs on a trailer rated 1/3 of that. (But I wait until the trailer is near empty before going up/down slopes like this photo). Vacuum cleaner hose and plastic pipe make a lightweight watering wand, as shown.

Each tree has a levee around it that takes 15 gallons of water. The gophers are so prevalent that I often have to stop and plug a drain hole, rebuild a levee, or dig the fluffed dirt out of a basin, before filling it.

 

[TomSeller]

The backhoe does a great job of preping a planting site. In my case I'm always digging out a decades-old stump so I dig a cavity at least the size of a card table plus follow the old roots outward as needed. Then refill and pack down with the tractor tires, level, then dig a planting hole with the backhoe or just a shovel.

Do you have problems with apple replant disease?

http://www.tfrec.wsu.edu/pages/organic/Replant

 

[California]

Do you have problems with apple replant disease?

Replant

Surprisingly, no. Even after abandoning the nasty stuff and going Certified Organic. (Maybe the century's worth of pesticides residue is still out there).