Please Help this Newbie with Apple Tree Planting

[MojoRisin]

I am a newer land owner and ventured into food plotting this year having created 4 after having none. So far, so good on those although I have made some mistakes.

Next spring, I plan to plant 6 apple trees with 4 in one location and 2 in another. I will be buying my trees from the Delta County Conservation District (UP MI). Their catalog comes out in the winter. I'm told they typically offer a variety of like 15 for that zone. What to buy will be a different topic.

Right now, I'm just trying to learn the proper way to get these trees in the ground in the spring. I have never planted a tree but have done a little reading. I was told the trees would be 7-9' tall. Here is what I surmised as a plan from some reading I have done. I welcome and encourage all input.

1. My soil is sandy so I plan to dig the hole and place a bag of potting soil in the hole.
2. I read where I should add a cup of pelletized lime to the soil.
3. Plant the tree at the proper depth.
4. Fill in the hole with the soil/sand that was dug out.
5. Add more pelletized lime into top soil.
6. Firm it up good.
7. Water well.
8. Put a tree guard around it.
9. Put a stake in the ground and connect it to the tree (assuming some wire for this).
10. Put landscape fabric around the tree but like 4" from it to keep the mice/moles from it.
11. Put mulch on the landscape fabric to prevent weed/grass growth.
12. Add a 6' tree fence around the tree. What diameter should this be?
13. Do not add fertilizer in year 1.
14. Water often.

Please let me know if this plan seems appropriate. I was told the trees would be available around the 3rd week in April and I was told that is a good time to plant them.

I am starting small with just 6 trees in case I fail or have a bad year weather wise. I will add trees each season going forward until I hit my goals.

Thanks in advance.

 

[MojoRisin]

I'd add a step. Cut the leader and any branches back some. How much depends what the roots look like and rootstock. Cummins nursery recommends cutting their bare roots back to 38" and feathered branches back to 3/4". Your trees sound like they are potted with more roots. You won't have to be that drastic but you will be better off and get much better growth if you do cut them back. Most people cringe at cutting back at planting. Big mistake if you don't.

Do you know what rootstock these trees are? If they are dwarf then you will need to cut back some but, maybe not as drastic.

You may also want to add additional soil and compost to the existing soil depending on what you have. Crazy Ed does this and has great results.

Make this step number 1.
******Buy disease resistant trees like Liberty, Enterprise, Freedom, and Goldrush.**********

Thanks for the advice.

Can you explain the cutting back portion a little better as I don't quite understand. Are you talking about cutting back the tree itself or the roots?

I do not yet know the rootstock as they have not released the catalog yet. I do not plan to buy any dwarfs to start with.

I will take your advice on the disease resistant trees. I will be looking for varieties that drop at different times. I am sure to have additional threads once I know my tree options. If those are not good, I will look elsewhere then for trees.

 

[H20fwler]

Mojo you are definitely on the right track!
Your list looks great, lots of really good info on this site.

I myself don't lime when I plant, my soil is very loamy with clay and I put a bag of mulch around each tree to keeps weeds down and moisture in. I screen my tree trunks so I don't worry about mice and shrews trying to girdle if they would burrow into the mulch. Pretty much all my trees are planted for wildlife so I buy standard and semi standard size.

 

[MojoRisin]

My thoughts in red

Thanks for the advice and confirmations.

I watched a video on planting them and know not to go too deep, basically just about the root line if I recall.

I will look for agloc and will use stone for mulch.

Much appreciated!

 

[MojoRisin]

Thanks again everyone. This is really a great site with lots of good people ready to help others.

I will add cutting back the trees to my list.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

As an insurance for making sure you have good tree varieties, ( disease resistant ) - I'd get on Cummins Nursery website and place an order for some DR trees now. This will reserve some trees for you in case the ones from your county conservation district aren't what you want/need. You don't have to pay for the Cummins trees now, they'll bill you around March, 2017. If the conservation district trees are the varieties you want on the right rootstocks, you can cancel your Cummins order before you pay for them - no harm, no fowl. Cummins will always sell those trees to someone - there's big demand. This way you know you have some good trees for this coming spring.

Liberty, Enterprise, Goldrush, & Freedom have been mentioned above ( all great DR trees ). A few more are Galarina, Priscilla, Crimson Topaz, Wolf River, Winecrisp.

For the cold you get up there in the UP, you might want to look into some crabapples. VERY tough trees. Dolgo and Chestnut crabs are known to be very cold-hardy. Dolgo comes from Siberia !!! A fair number of guys from Minnesota grow Dolgo and Chestnut crabs, so they ought to grow for you in the UP.

Maybe Stu and Sandbur can jump in with some other apple or crab ideas. Stu & NH Mtns. gave good advice above.

Stone for mulch on top of landscape cloth. Mice / voles don't like to tunnel into it - wood mulch is like an open invitation to tunnel. The tree trunk wrap many guys use ( me too ) is aluminum window screen. 24" to 30" tall ( for deep snow ) and 14" long off the roll. Wrap the screen around the trunk so the 14" dimension is bent in half, but is 30" tall. Staple the vertical sides of the cut ends ( now touching ) closed with a regular stapler. I staple every 1 1/2" so mice can't get in. Then staple the top and bottom closed ( but not tight ) to the trunk. I let enough space between the last staple and the trunk so I can stick my thumb in that space, so the trunk can expand. Then as the trunk expands each year, you can remove another staple ( top and bottom ) to give more room.

 

[MojoRisin]

As an insurance for making sure you have good tree varieties, ( disease resistant ) - I'd get on Cummins Nursery website and place an order for some DR trees now. This will reserve some trees for you in case the ones from your county conservation district aren't what you want/need. You don't have to pay for the Cummins trees now, they'll bill you around March, 2017. If the conservation district trees are the varieties you want on the right rootstocks, you can cancel your Cummins order before you pay for them - no harm, no fowl. Cummins will always sell those trees to someone - there's big demand. This way you know you have some good trees for this coming spring.

Liberty, Enterprise, Goldrush, & Freedom have been mentioned above ( all great DR trees ). A few more are Galarina, Priscilla, Crimson Topaz, Wolf River, Winecrisp.

For the cold you get up there in the UP, you might want to look into some crabapples. VERY tough trees. Dolgo and Chestnut crabs are known to be very cold-hardy. Dolgo comes from Siberia !!! A fair number of guys from Minnesota grow Dolgo and Chestnut crabs, so they ought to grow for you in the UP.

Maybe Stu and Sandbur can jump in with some other apple or crab ideas. Stu & NH Mtns. gave good advice above.

Stone for mulch on top of landscape cloth. Mice / voles don't like to tunnel into it - wood mulch is like an open invitation to tunnel. The tree trunk wrap many guys use ( me too ) is aluminum window screen. 24" to 30" tall ( for deep snow ) and 14" long off the roll. Wrap the screen around the trunk so the 14" dimension is bent in half, but is 30" tall. Staple the vertical sides of the cut ends ( now touching ) closed with a regular stapler. I staple every 1 1/2" so mice can't get in. Then staple the top and bottom closed ( but not tight ) to the trunk. I let enough space between the last staple and the trunk so I can stick my thumb in that space, so the trunk can expand. Then as the trunk expands each year, you can remove another staple ( top and bottom ) to give more room.

Wow, more great advice. I think I am going to call the conservation district to see if I can get a copy of last year's catalog to see what they all had to offer. They did say like 15 trees all appropriate to the UP zone. I will go look at Cummins and place an order though.

When you say "Wrap the screen around the trunk so the 14" dimension is bent in half, but is 30" tall." are you just folding the 14" length to 7" and wrapping it doubled like that? I might be missing what you are referring to and I apologize in advance for my lack of understanding.

Thanks again to everyone.

 

[MojoRisin]

So besides understanding the tree screen wrapping question I still have, my next question is - Is there a guide to how far apart apple/pear trees should be planted?

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Mojo - The screen comes in rolls of varying widths ( which for our purposes becomes the height, or " tall " dimension ). So if you buy, say 12 ft. of screen that's 30" wide, un-roll it and cut pieces that are 14" wide ( and will be 30" tall ). Then when you wrap the 14" piece around the tree trunk, it becomes 7" on either side of the tree trunk, and 30" tall. Staple it from top to bottom down the long open side every 1 1/2" or so. You have then created a " sleeve " of screen around the trunk. Now staple the bottom and top the same way, but not tight to the trunk. I let enough " grow room " to stick my thumb between the trunk and the last staple. Most of the experienced apple growing guys I learned from say that as the tree grows and expands, it will rip the staples loose as it grows ( from the top and bottom ). I just keep an eye on the tree trunks and remove staples as necessary from the top & bottom. Doing it this way we have never had a problem with mice / voles getting in and chewing the bark / killing the tree.

Distance apart for planting depends on which rootstock you get your trees on. A good rule of thumb for semi-dwarf trees on up to standard trees is to plant 25 ft. apart. At my camp, we plant 25 ft. to 28 ft. apart. Our rootstocks are Antonovka ( full-sized tree ), and B-118 & MM-111 ( both semi- standard trees ). With the 25 ft. spread between trees, you should be good to go. Plenty of room for sun and air flow to the trees.

 

[UP Powers]

I didn't realize the OP was in the UP until Bnb said so. Depending on which part of the UP, your choices for fruit trees should be based first on cold hardiness, then on disease resistance.

All the cool kids are from the UP.

1/2 a cup might be a little deep on the terrasorb, aka water polymers. couple of tablespoons is plenty.

 

[UP Powers]

mojo.. where are you located in the UP??

 

[chummer]

There is usually a line on the tree you can see how deep the nursery had them planted. I would also add more water at planting. Every 1/4 of the hole you fill in add water. You want to get rid of all the air. I would also go one zone lower than you think you need. I have a lot of zone 4 trees fail from winter and I am suppose to be zone 4. I go -30 a couple times and trees seem to die. I have planted a lot of cummins trees but must say all 5 of the St. Lawerance nursery trees I have planted are putting the cummins trees to shame. I am SNL going forward. Check them out, thier catalog should be out this month.

 

[MojoRisin]

mojo.. where are you located in the UP??

Just a click south of Esky. I hunted in Menomonee for around 8 years and then bought my own land in the winter of 2015. It has been a "labor of love" ever since and I was wish there was a sarcasm font :). Things are starting to come together well for us now. I went from zero to 4 food plots this year on mostly dumpy cedar marsh.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

We've had good luck with ACN, Cummins and SLN. But I agree with Chummer - SLN trees are really tough. We have a great number of their crabs and a few of their regular apple trees. Zero problems. SLN describes their roots as " looking like a carrot " compared to other rootstocks. That's how Antonovka rootstocks look - thick, few in number. The first year or 2 they don't grow gangbusters above ground because they are establishing their root systems. But starting in year 3 and beyond, they put on good growth. That's the pattern I've seen with our SLN trees, and having some other trees on B-118 and MM-111 roots, - planted in the same year - the SLN trees are our biggest.

Chummer is up in the same extreme northern latitudes of N.Y. as SLN, so his success with SLN trees is no surprise. UGLY cold and SNOW.

 

[MojoRisin]

Mojo - The screen comes in rolls of varying widths ( which for our purposes becomes the height, or " tall " dimension ). So if you buy, say 12 ft. of screen that's 30" wide, un-roll it and cut pieces that are 14" wide ( and will be 30" tall ). Then when you wrap the 14" piece around the tree trunk, it becomes 7" on either side of the tree trunk, and 30" tall. Staple it from top to bottom down the long open side every 1 1/2" or so. You have then created a " sleeve " of screen around the trunk. Now staple the bottom and top the same way, but not tight to the trunk. I let enough " grow room " to stick my thumb between the trunk and the last staple. Most of the experienced apple growing guys I learned from say that as the tree grows and expands, it will rip the staples loose as it grows ( from the top and bottom ). I just keep an eye on the tree trunks and remove staples as necessary from the top & bottom. Doing it this way we have never had a problem with mice / voles getting in and chewing the bark / killing the tree.

Distance apart for planting depends on which rootstock you get your trees on. A good rule of thumb for semi-dwarf trees on up to standard trees is to plant 25 ft. apart. At my camp, we plant 25 ft. to 28 ft. apart. Our rootstocks are Antonovka ( full-sized tree ), and B-118 & MM-111 ( both semi- standard trees ). With the 25 ft. spread between trees, you should be good to go. Plenty of room for sun and air flow to the trees.

Great info once again - Thanks. I have copied all this information into a Word document along with all the food plot information I have learned here.

How many years do these tree protectors stay on? Likewise with the seclusion fence? I saw 100' rolls of 6' welded fence at TractorSupply for like $150. Is that a typical price?

 

[chummer]

We've had good luck with ACN, Cummins and SLN. But I agree with Chummer - SLN trees are really tough. We have a great number of their crabs and a few of their regular apple trees. Zero problems. SLN describes their roots as " looking like a carrot " compared to other rootstocks. That's how Antonovka rootstocks look - thick, few in number. The first year or 2 they don't grow gangbusters above ground because they are establishing their root systems. But starting in year 3 and beyond, they put on good growth. That's the pattern I've seen with our SLN trees, and having some other trees on B-118 and MM-111 roots, - planted in the same year - the SLN trees are our biggest.

Chummer is up in the same extreme northern latitudes of N.Y. as SLN, so his success with SLN trees is no surprise. UGLY cold and SNOW.

Bow, the funny thing is when the SLN trees came they looked like crap compared to the cummins trees so I stuck them in the worst spots because I figured they wouldn't amount to much. They are on their second leave and have passed almost all the cummins trees that are on their third and fourth leaf(they are in the best full sun spots). We also had our worst drought this year and they still put on a ton of growth. Very impressed, I hope they stay in business.

 

[sandbur]

Mojo - The screen comes in rolls of varying widths ( which for our purposes becomes the height, or " tall " dimension ). So if you buy, say 12 ft. of screen that's 30" wide, un-roll it and cut pieces that are 14" wide ( and will be 30" tall ). Then when you wrap the 14" piece around the tree trunk, it becomes 7" on either side of the tree trunk, and 30" tall. Staple it from top to bottom down the long open side every 1 1/2" or so. You have then created a " sleeve " of screen around the trunk. Now staple the bottom and top the same way, but not tight to the trunk. I let enough " grow room " to stick my thumb between the trunk and the last staple. Most of the experienced apple growing guys I learned from say that as the tree grows and expands, it will rip the staples loose as it grows ( from the top and bottom ). I just keep an eye on the tree trunks and remove staples as necessary from the top & bottom. Doing it this way we have never had a problem with mice / voles getting in and chewing the bark / killing the tree.

Distance apart for planting depends on which rootstock you get your trees on. A good rule of thumb for semi-dwarf trees on up to standard trees is to plant 25 ft. apart. At my camp, we plant 25 ft. to 28 ft. apart. Our rootstocks are Antonovka ( full-sized tree ), and B-118 & MM-111 ( both semi- standard trees ). With the 25 ft. spread between trees, you should be good to go. Plenty of room for sun and air flow to the trees.

When I use a 14 inch piece of window screen, I staple it like BnB, but then take the excess and double it over and just apply a few extra staples. Have the doubled over portion on the south/Sw side of the tree to help shade the trunk from the winter sun.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Mojo - Stu nailed the best buy for cage material. 150' x 5' tall. We have no Menards where I come from, but the prices guys have posted on here at Menards are better than anywhere I've seen. I wish we had Menards here !!

I plan on leaving the cages around our trees permanently because we have bears. The screens for mice / voles are staying too. As the trees get bigger, I'll just make bigger screens. We lost some big, old ( 40+ years ) apples trees one winter with deep snow to mouse / vole girdling. They were good trees too. Screens are cheap compared to starting all over from dead trees.

Chummer - I hope SLN never goes out of business too !!! The new owner, Connor Hardiman, worked for the MacKentleys before buying the nursery from them. He intends to keep it going. I'll help him out by buying more crabs from him. I did this past spring. We have a Chestnut crab that I got from SLN that's in 3rd leaf and it's about 13 ft. tall. It's our tallest " new " tree. The All-Winter-Hangover crabs are close behind in height ( 12ft. ) and produce lots of apples ( 4th leaf and 3rd leaf ). I LOVE their trees !!! I wish I had another 3 acre field at camp to plant trees. I'd pound it full of crabs from SLN.

BTW - I am no expert, but I've learned a TON from this forum and the guys on it - some have just returned back here again. I also get my info from the 3 nurseries we use the most - SLN, Cummins, and ACN, and several university professors from Penn State, U. Minn., Cornell, Rutgers, U. Mass., U. Vermont. I just pass on what I've learned and experienced. I can't take any credit myself - the knowledge was given to me by these others. :)

 

[MojoRisin]

Hopefully, this is the last of the questions from me until I get the catalog on trees. What do you guys buy for tree stakes as well as to stake down the fencing?

 

[buckdeer1]

I would look at fire blight resistant pears if they have any for that zone.Cummins will treat you right for up in your area