I decided where I want to put a new 20 tree orchard. It would be bordered by very tall white pines on the northeast side. Is there any ill effects these pines will have on the apples? There are already a couple wild ones growing there?
They won't block the sun till the end of the day. They are on the north west not the north east. I was backwards in previous post. How far of a radius do they affect the ph? I will have to lime anyway all the spots I have tested so far have been low 5's.
So it sounds like you'll get good sun for most of the day. I'd look at the ground where you're planting. Are there pine needles now? If there are then you'll need to rake those out each year. Then add lime. I try to add a bag a year per tree.
I think I will have room for a little buffer between them. They run at an angle away from where the trees are going so if I design it right only a few trees will be within 10 yards. They do drop a lot of needles.
That would be great if I could but the dolgos or chestnuts against the pines. I would love to put the latest dropping apples in the back to maybe have one come out during daylight.
A bag per tree sounds a tad heavy doesn't it? I was planning to lime mine this spring as well, but I was thinking more along the lines of a half bag per 6, and hitting it once or twice per year.
That's a good question. All I could find was apples like a ph between 5.0-6.5. Not sure if the varieties handle ph differently. I know they handle fertilizer differently from variety to variety.
This is pretty interesting, I have yet to see a ph below 5 in my area. A ph between 5-6 isn't hard to accomplish, at least with my soils. Some are obviously different.