Apple Trees

ChadHable

Yearling... With promise
I've been thinking of ways to improve food sources on the property that I hunt. My current thought is to plant some apple trees. I have zero knowledge about apple trees so I'm looking for any insight I can gain.

The property I hunt is in central Wisconsin (Border of USDA zones 4B and 4C). I currently have a spot about 50' 100' picked out to plant apple trees. This spot has access to full sun and is relatively dry.

The questions I have are:

  • How long does it typically take to produce fruit if I plant a tree that starts out 12-30"?
  • If I purchase 3-5 of the same types of apple trees, will I have any pollinating issues?
  • Do I need to plant clover underneath these trees to help with pollination?
  • A local nursery has Antanovka and Renetka Crab available and state deer love these apples. Anyone have success with these types?
  • If I don't purchase apple trees from the local nursery, is there a reputable online retailer I should consider?
Like I said above, i'm very new to planting apple trees but this is an idea that came to mind while sitting in the tree stand. Any insight that can be provided would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to do some planning now so I can get a jump on next seasons planting season.

Thank you,
Chad
 
I've had good luck with St. Lawrence Nursery out of Potsdam NY - they use Antonovka rootstock on their apple trees. They will survive MN and WI winters without any issues. For deer just make sure you don't plant any trees on a dwarf rootstock - you want semi-dwarf, semi-standard or better yet standard. I'd plant a variety of apple varieties so you have early, mid and late season apples dropping. Plant the early season closest to an early archery bow stand. I'd recommend dolgo for that. Disease resistant apples are good if you won't be able to (or don't want to) spray often. I've also heard go

You can find more detailed info on other threads here, but I would recommend laying out your orchard and planting in a straight line. Seems simple, but I messed that up and now mowing is more difficult than it needs to be. After planting the trees, put aluminum window screen around the trunks to prevent critters from chewing the bark. I use a 18" wide by 18" tall piece of screen that is stapled together after being placed on the trunk. Put a little dirt on the base of the screen so mice can't get under it and you are set. If you don't have bear issues you can use a simple 6' tall welded wire cage around the trees held in place by 1 steel fencepost. I use 12.5' length of welded wire fence for each tree. If you have lots of bears 2 fence posts will be better.

I would recommend going out now to lay out the orchard and perhaps put flags next to the planting locations. Spray round up now around those areas so competing vegetation is dead at planting time next spring.
 
You need more than one variety for pollination. Clover won't affect pollination.

A reasonable timeline is probably about 6-10 years on standard size rootstocks. It might be a good idea to plant a couple on more precocious rootstock to get things moving faster (about 5 years).

As far as what varieties to plant, well... that is an endless conversation.

Welcome to the addiction.
 
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This might help fill in some blanks...
 
I'll name a couple nurseries I've dealt with and had no problems. St. Lawrence Nursery - SLN - (mentioned in post #2), Cummins Nursery in Trumansburg, N.Y., and Adams County Nursery - ACN - in Aspers, Pa. ACN is also a research and testing nursery used by apple breeders. Top notch nursery! Turkey Creek Trees is a member on here and although I've not purchased trees from him, all reports on this forum have been good for his stock.

Some good disease-resistant (DR) trees are: Liberty, Enterprise, Goldrush ( Goldrush gets cedar apple rust -CAR- if you have red cedar trees nearby), Galarina, Priscilla, Crimson Topaz, Sundance, Wolf River, Kerr (an apple-crab cross), & Winecrisp for regular apples.

Good crab apples to have are Dolgo crab, Chestnut crab, Winter Wildlife crab, All-Winter-Hangover crab, Centennial, Trailman, Centurion, & Wickson.

Since you're in the north country, Haralson, Prairie Magic, Prairie Spy, Norkent, and Parkland may be good choices up there.
 
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