2020 Apple Tree Planting

[ChadHable]

This past weekend I was able to get out and plant the apple trees I ordered. I planted 10 total trees and 8 varieties to see which ones take off. The ones I purchased are: (2) Honey Crisp, (2) Honeygold, Chestnut Crab apple, Wolf River, Snow Sweet, Frostbite, Zester, and Red Regent. The tallest bare root tree was 8 ft from the ground left and the shortest was 6 ft.

Below are a series of pictures of what I did. If anyone sees that I missed an important step, please let me know. I want to make sure I give these trees the best chance to survive.

Father-in-law and I the weekend prior used the tractor and disc to break up the overgrown grass. I then used the ATV disc and drag to smooth everything out. Lastly, I tentatively placed stakes out where I want the trees. In this picture, I am facing East. I placed the trees 25 feet apart going East to West and then I moved North (left in the picture) 20 feet and started the next row. Row 2 trees are placed in between each tree in row 1.


Next, I put the trees in the ground and added window screen around each tree. I attached the window screen with some zip ties and buried it a few inches down. As the tree grows, I plan to adjust the screen and I figured replacing zip ties is cheaper than a whole new tree.



After the trunk was taken care of, I had some left over weed matting at home so I place some around each tree to help control the weeds.



Lastly, I placed a few 6ft T posts and some left over 6ft bamboo sticks to secure the concrete mesh to protect the trees from deer and bears. I also tied the trees to the cage to provide some support as they grow. By the end of the weekend each tree was given about 10-15 gallons of water.



Final layout- Around mid summer I plan to redisc the aisles and plant some clover and radishes to start training the deer coming to this new area.



Next task is to learn about fertilizing and pesticides as well as figure out a slow water drip system to help water when I can't be there. This process has been a good learning experience and fingers crossed I get to bite into an apple in 2-3 years

One of those scraggly looking oak trees to the left side of the picture will be getting a tree stand put in it at some point this summer.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

One thing I see right away is the string/cord tying the trees to the cage. That'll cut into the young bark and make a groove in your tree. "Soften" the string contact with the trunks by cutting an old piece of garden hose or something similar to wrap around the trunks where the strings tie fast. Slit the hose sections lengthwise and slip them around the trunks. The hose material is flexible enough to not cut into the young tree, and will flex with the wind. I drill a hole in each side if the slit so the cord can be wrapped around the outside of the hose section, and then passed IN through the holes so the string doesn't actually touch and rub the bark.

I learned the hard way about cords / insulated copper wires cutting into young trees some time ago. They can actually grow INTO your trees if you don't spread that contact area out by means of a sleeve of some sort. I'd also keep those zip-ties loose so they don't cut into the trees too. Try stapling them from top to bottom, loosely wrapped around the trunks. I just pass my screens around the trunk once and staple the two edges together. That gives the trunks room to expand, but keeps the mice, voles, and rabbits from chewing bark. I also sink my screens into the soil about 2 inches to discourage vole tunneling. Pin the bottoms down with big landscape staples. I hope this saves you some headaches!

Those oaks trees ought to be a great stand location. Nice layout.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

I'm curious about the window screen wrapped around the base of the trees. Is that literally just window screen that you bought in a roll somewhere?

Is it about once a year that you have to re-wrap them?

 

[homerj]

Is the window screen fiberglass or aluminum? Not sure I've seen black aluminum window screen.

 

[gunfun13]

Nice looking trees, which nursery did they come from?

 

[Bowsnbucks]

To answer the question in post #3 of yearly re-wrapping the screen - No. You don't have to do that yearly.
If done properly from the outset, you can leave them alone for a number of years. I'll explain how I do ours, and I learned from Appleman who's posted on here numerous times. He's put pictures up on here showing his method. It's his idea - and it works.

I cut 24" wide aluminum window screen that comes in rolls to lengths of 15". 10 trees = 10 pieces of screen. As soon as trees are planted, I wrap a piece of screen ONCE around the tree loosely - so that the ends just touch together. Then I use a regular office stapler to staple it closed along those two edges. The result is a loose "tear-drop" shaped screen enclosure if viewed from above. It's loose on the trunk. Then I flare the bottom of the screen out just slightly to push landscape staples through the flare to pin the screen into the ground. This keeps voles from easy access from below. Then I staple the top horizontal edges in toward the trunk so that I can just slip my finger between the trunk and the closest staple. That allows for the first year's growth and expansion. As each year passes, the tree trunk will expand and rip out each successive horizontal top staple as it grows - or you can "help" each tree by removing one staple as needed. The vertical-edge staples - once the tree gets that big - would need to be removed and a bigger piece of aluminum screen would need to be applied.

I then put landscape cloth down around the base of the tree out to about 2 ft. from the trunk. I then pile about 3" to 4" of crushed limestone chips all around the tree to completely cover the landscape cloth. The limestone chips are sharp and jagged, so mice and voles don't like to try tunneling into or under them. Then I cage with concrete mesh 5 ft. tall and pin that down with re-bar, or as some have in pics - t-posts. DONE.

Since our first "newer" trees planted in 2013, we haven't had mouse, vole, or rabbit problems with this system …………...…….. learned from Appleman and a local orchardist near my camp. I haven't had to re-do any screens yet, and probably won't have to for another 3 or 4 years. FWIW.

 

[Apple Junkie]

You’ve really thought this out, and you’ve done a great job executing your vision so far. You don’t mention what rootstock your trees are on, but assuming they build larger size trees, I like your choice of spacing. You’re going to eat well in the years to come, both apples and venison – well done!

That said, heed the advice given by the guys above. Also, Bows would remind you NOT to till between the rows after the first year. My guess is that you’ll be in a position to share your experiences with us in the near future. Keep us posted, welcome to the club.

 

[H20fwler]

Looks like a great start.

I agree make sure your screen is aluminum, mice and voles will chew right through fiberglass or plastic. Bows gave a great description on loosely stapling screen closed around trunk for protection and growth. If you get much wind you will need to brace the trees so they won't move very much or branches will self-prune on the cage on a bad windy day.

 

[j-bird]

Just a couple of general suggestions on my part here.
#1 - I like narrow cages.....I think it promotes the tree to grow up and not out. I generally use a length of fence of 6 to 8 feet.
#2 - I cover my weed fabric with stone/gravel. This holds the weed barrier in place and allows the rain to pass without harboring mice or voles and the like that wood mulch can.
#3 - I use metal hardware cloth to protect my tree trunks (but metal window screen works too)
#4 - Put a tag on them trees. When they was planted, what variety they are and what root stock....you will be glad you did later.
#5 - connect the ends of your cages in a way that makes them easy to open. You will need to have access for some pruning.
#6 - avoid using zip ties. Most are not UV rated and will become brittle and break over time.
#7 - flag/mark your cages well. Wire cages can be tough to see at times when you are operating equipment and them cages seem to reach out and grab stuff pretty easily.

 

[TenPoint]

1. I don’t think a cage in and of itself promotes anything in regards to a trees growth. Pruning and training are the main drivers of that along with a trees natural characteristics.

2. I used gravel over Lumite fabric and weeds came thru it like a sieve. Haven’t used gravel over that since. If you’re using regular landscaping fabric like the type around a house I’d go with gravel. Or gravel over black plastic works too.

Agree with the rest J-Bird.

 

[ChadHable]

Nice looking trees, which nursery did they come from?

This trees came from a local nursery's bareroot sale. They get their trees from Bailey's Nursery.

Chad

 

[ChadHable]

Is the window screen fiberglass or aluminum? Not sure I've seen black aluminum window screen.

Yes, this is fiberglass window screen. I didn't pay attention to what I grabbed at Menards. I will be heading back to the land to check on the trees in a week or two. I will be making the switch to aluminum window screens.

 

[ChadHable]

Just a couple of general suggestions on my part here.
#1 - I like narrow cages.....I think it promotes the tree to grow up and not out. I generally use a length of fence of 6 to 8 feet.
#2 - I cover my weed fabric with stone/gravel. This holds the weed barrier in place and allows the rain to pass without harboring mice or voles and the like that wood mulch can.
#3 - I use metal hardware cloth to protect my tree trunks (but metal window screen works too)
#4 - Put a tag on them trees. When they was planted, what variety they are and what root stock....you will be glad you did later.
#5 - connect the ends of your cages in a way that makes them easy to open. You will need to have access for some pruning.
#6 - avoid using zip ties. Most are not UV rated and will become brittle and break over time.
#7 - flag/mark your cages well. Wire cages can be tough to see at times when you are operating equipment and them cages seem to reach out and grab stuff pretty easily.

Thank you for all of the great suggestions. I just added on to my Menards shopping list.

 

[ChadHable]

You’ve really thought this out, and you’ve done a great job executing your vision so far. You don’t mention what rootstock your trees are on, but assuming they build larger size trees, I like your choice of spacing. You’re going to eat well in the years to come, both apples and venison – well done!

That said, heed the advice given by the guys above. Also, Bows would remind you NOT to till between the rows after the first year. My guess is that you’ll be in a position to share your experiences with us in the near future. Keep us posted, welcome to the club.

Thank you! I do plan to document how things turn out. If everything turns out well, I will probably be adding to the orchard next year. I already planted the seed with my wife that honey bees might be in our future as well. :)

All of the trees came from Bailey's Nursery and except for the Chestnut Crabapple (Standard) all are semi-dwarf M7 rootstock. I don't have much experience with looking at trees but I was quite happy with how the looked and how tall they were.

 

[rocksnstumps]

looks like some fairly sandy soil once you get past the surface. Or at least the pic with landscape fabric shows a lot of sandy looking material on top. Plan to water the heck outta them the first year unless we get another record breaking rain year like last year in most of WI.

 

[Charman03]

Looks great. Only thing I would add is a 10ft piece of conduit, to support the tree and keep it growing straight up. Can add those next year. I’d also get a bunch of stone to put around the base of the trees

 

[j-bird]

1. I don’t think a cage in and of itself promotes anything in regards to a trees growth. Pruning and training are the main drivers of that along with a trees natural characteristics.

2. I used gravel over Lumite fabric and weeds came thru it like a sieve. Haven’t used gravel over that since. If you’re using regular landscaping fabric like the type around a house I’d go with gravel. Or gravel over black plastic works too.

Agree with the rest J-Bird.

Narrow cages allow the deer to prune your trees. Anything that pokes outside the cage the deer will nip off. I don't worry about it at all and like I said I think it promotes the tree putting it's energy into growing upward and not outward....but that my opinion, and we know what they say about those. I use a weed fabric I get at the local garden department from the local Lowes (I have been told to never use actual plastic because it will not allow moisture to pass). I don't have experience with lumite. I use stone/gravel from my stream and the purpose is for it to simply hold the weed barrier in place (even thought I try to use landscape staples as well). Only after a couple of years do I tend to have issues with weeds....and by then who cares. I had use mulch in the past and I had voles get into it and chew off all the support roots of trees and kill them. I have not had any issue since switching to some sort of stone. The main purpose is to keep weeds under control so they don't steal moisture from your young tree.....allow moisture to pass & stop weeds...that's the goal....regardless of how you get there.

 

[Apple Junkie]

Chad, as you build and grow your orchard, I think you will find the devil is in the details. Going forward, I’d encourage you to pay close attention to the rootstock your trees are grafted to.

Deer, coons and bears all love apples as much as you do. Unfortunately, they don’t really care about how much damage they can do to your trees as they go after them. You’re going to want a large, sturdy, well-anchored tree. The M7 rootstock grows a tree that is roughly 65% as large as a tree on standard rootstock. A tree on M.111 or B.118 rootstocks will grow a tree that is roughly 85% as large as a standard rootstock, and a tree on P.18 or Antonovka rootstocks will grow a full-size tree (approx. 25’ tall). Your M7 rootstock trees will be fine, but going forward, you might want to consider the larger rootstocks too. I would not go smaller than what you have now.

You can learn all you need by googling rootstocks. I’m looking forward to your posts as your trees grow to maturity.

 

[TenPoint]

Lumite allows rain thru but holds in soil moisture. It’s not cheap but it works. I just staple that down and it works.

I’ve got a crab in a narrow cage that I let the deer nip and it’s a disaster. It looks like Medusa below the cage top and is barely above it after several years. I would never recommend letting the deer eat your trees. Protect, prune and train. Will both ways work? Eventually, but getting a good formed tree quickly is probably a faster method to the madness.

 

[scott44]

Chad, as you build and grow your orchard, I think you will find the devil is in the details. Going forward, I’d encourage you to pay close attention to the rootstock your trees are grafted to.

Deer, coons and bears all love apples as much as you do. Unfortunately, they don’t really care about how much damage they can do to your trees as they go after them. You’re going to want a large, sturdy, well-anchored tree. The M7 rootstock grows a tree that is roughly 65% as large as a tree on standard rootstock. A tree on M.111 or B.118 rootstocks will grow a tree that is roughly 85% as large as a standard rootstock, and a tree on P.18 or Antonovka rootstocks will grow a full-size tree (approx. 25’ tall). Your M7 rootstock trees will be fine, but going forward, you might want to consider the larger rootstocks too. I would not go smaller than what you have now.

You can learn all you need by googling rootstocks. I’m looking forward to your posts as your trees grow to maturity.

https://extension.psu.edu/apple-rootstocks-capabilities-and-limitations