Best zone 5 fruit/nut trees for whitetails

[Bowsnbucks]

I just checked in on St. Lawrence's site. They still have Chestnut crab, Trailman crab, as well as regular apples Enterprise and Goldrush. ( They have many more varieties - but these are popular wildlife trees ). Just a heads-up for anyone interested.

 

[Telemark]

Do you guys worry about "good pollinator" vs. just having multiple varieties?

Can a crab tree pollinate a normal apple tree?

 

[yoderjac]

Many of the best pollinators for domestic apples are crabapples. Orchards often graft a few crabapples to there domestic apple trees. For wildlife, I'm looking for low maintenance disease resistant trees. Many of the best apples for deer are crabapples so good pollinators are not an issue for most.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

As Jack said, ^^^^^ Crabs are really good pollinators for regular apple trees. Adams County Nursery ( ACN ), sells crabs just for that purpose, along with their regular apples. ACN puts a chart in their catalog that's a pull-out. It lists when apples and crabs bloom and which ones will be good pollinators for each other. Even if you don't order any trees from ACN - it's worth e-mailing them to have a catalog sent to you. Save the pull-out for future use. ACN also has peaches, plums, cherries, apricots and pears. FWIW.

Adams County ( Pa. ) Nursery is listed on many university sites and is one of the top rated fruit tree nurseries in the whole country. They are a research nursery as well, with newer apple tree varieties tested there before being released to the public.

 

[Telemark]

Thanks for the info, guys. I am planning to plant crabs anyway, so this is good news for me.

Many sites talk about Golden Delicious as a "necessity" for good production. Glad to know crabs will do the trick.

 

[NE PA QDM]

Here's a shot of my neighbor's tree and the apples it produces. It gets absolutely no maintenance, but produces amazing apples.
View attachment 16730View attachment 16731

Grafting is easy. I like to say "if I can do it, you can definitely do it."
I have had good success with cleft grafts. I'm FAR from an expert with grafting but have found that it's not quite as hard as it might seem.
I generally will cleft graft 2 scions into a rootstock, it doubles the odds of one of the scions "taking" so it's good for those of us who aren't perfect .
If you can find any rootstock for sale this year you should try grafting some of the scion from your neighbor's tree, it would be good practice and you might even surprise yourself with a successful graft.

 

[Telemark]

I may just do that. I have my cage and screen material ordered. Might just be worth taking the plunge.

Do you use wax or sealant on your cleft grafts?

 

[NE PA QDM]

Most of my graft unions are small (about 1/4") so I cover the open areas with 1/2" parafilm and that works well. Trying grafting wax for the first time this year as i plan to top work some 3" wide trees and cleft graft them, I will use wax to seal the open wood for that.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Telemark - The grafts I've done I wrap with parafilm. It's a clear, stretchy tape that you stretch tight around the graft union to keep the cut pinched tight so no air can get in. I extend the taping above and below the graft to insure it's sealed. I then paint "Tree - Kote " over the whole taped graft and also dab some on the top end of the scion ( if it's a cut end ) to keep it from drying out. "Tree - Kote" ( I believe that's the correct spelling ) is a black, tarry goop that is used to seal tree cuts from pruning. It can be found at most garden centers & nurseries.

Some guys use wax and that's fine. I think from what I've read on this forum, most guys use a 50/50 mix of paraffin and bees wax. Grafting wax can also be purchased.