A look at the orchard

[Merle Hawggard]

Awesome! Those are some healthy looking trees.

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[Natureboy]

Brownsbucks, I fertilize each spring, about a 16 oz cupful around each of the smaller trees applied at the drip line. Two cups for the larger trees. I limed the area prior to planting, so I do not lime each year. Southwest NY about 10 miles from the PA border.

 

[chummer]

Job well done. Looks text book to me. Do you remember how long it took to get your first apple?

 

[Lot2Learn]

Awesome, awesome, awesome!

Are you spraying to keep the area around the base of your trees clear? I've been using lumite, but I'm looking for an alternative...

 

[Goldentriangle]

That is one pretty wildlife orchard! It could pass as a well manicured commercial orchard.


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[Rally1148]

Looks great! Just make sure you thin those Querina and Liberty. You'd hate to get the leader breaking because of the weight!

 

[silver_yummies]

Nice looking orchards. Can you tell us what rootstock those are on and your spacing you used between trees and between each row??

 

[Natureboy]

Job well done. Looks text book to me. Do you remember how long it took to get your first apple?

Chummer, I had blossoms that I removed on the Liberties and Freedoms the next spring after planting. Year 3 about 10 or 12 apples per tree.

 

[Natureboy]

Awesome, awesome, awesome!

Are you spraying to keep the area around the base of your trees clear? I've been using lumite, but I'm looking for an alternative...

I spray twice a year with Gly, around May/June then again in early September. I go through first and trim off all of the suckers and root sprouts from the bases of the trees prior to spraying.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Beautiful
Some of the best orchard pics I have seen on here!

 

[H20fwler]

Flat out AWESOME!

I went over it twice looking those trees over!

 

[TreeDaddy]

Flat out AWESOME!

I went over it twice looking those trees over!

I would love to hear the story behind the creation and maintenance of that masterpiece

Suffice to say,I am jealous as hell

bill

 

[Natureboy]

Nice looking orchards. Can you tell us what rootstock those are on and your spacing you used between trees and between each row??

The trees are mostly on M111 and B118 rootstocks, I did start some of the trees by grafting scions to seed grown apple rootstocks. The rows are about 25 feet apart with the trees being 18 to 20 feet apart in the row.

 

[Natureboy]

Tried my first Sweet Sixteen yesterday. It is my new favorite, crisp and sweet, the tree well formed and is easy to grow with no hint of any disease or apple scab. I would rate it ahead of Honeycrisp for both ease of maintenance and taste.

 

[buckvelvet]

Man thanks for posting that! Awesome pictures, some day I will be in the position to post a walk through my orchard. Really appreciate your post!

 

[Natureboy]

Man thanks for posting that! Awesome pictures, some day I will be in the position to post a walk through my orchard. Really appreciate your post!

Buckvelvet,
You should't have long to wait. My oldest trees were only planted in 2008 with most of the trees including the Sweet sixteen being planted in 2012 or later. Your apple trees should be large enough to have a few apples three to four years after planting in most cases. I did prune and cage my trees for height right from the start and pruned to put my lowest scaffold branches no lower than
4 1/2 to 5 feet.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Brownsbucks, I fertilize each spring, about a 16 oz cupful around each of the smaller trees applied at the drip line. Two cups for the larger trees. I limed the area prior to planting, so I do not lime each year. Southwest NY about 10 miles from the PA border.

What do you fertilize with? 10-10-10?

Another question I have is, how much do you try to keep them trimmed? The reason I ask is, I just toured a commercial apple orchard, and it looks like the trees have never been trimmed, and the trees are planted close together that the branches are all touching other trees.

 

[Natureboy]

What do you fertilize with? 10-10-10?

Another question I have is, how much do you try to keep them trimmed? The reason I ask is, I just toured a commercial apple orchard, and it looks like the trees have never been trimmed, and the trees are planted close together that the branches are all touching other trees.

4wanderingeyes, I generally fertilize with triple 19. Each spring I usually have a couple of bags leftover after applying fertilizer to the soil prior to planting corn. I usually trim the trees in February or March and try to keep the smaller trees trimmed well, removing excess branches and securing the central leader to a 1/2" conduit to result in a straight well formed tree. This gets more difficult as the trees get larger.

 

[Natureboy]

I visited the orchard on January 15th to see if the deer were still eating the apples and how many of the varieties were still holding fruit. Here are some of the the results. Trails leading to the orchard.

 

[Natureboy]

Orchard getting plenty of activity