Apples, If you were to pick just 3

Everybody should start by planting a Liberty and an Enterprise.
Agree 100%. These 2 varieties are probably the most DR varieties out there, and cover a good amount of time for dropping. My camp has several of each. If I were choosing just 3 apple varieties, Liberty & Enterprise would be 2 of them.

As for rootstocks, if you have bears, I'd suggest going with rootstocks that grow full-sized trees. Bigger trees/more heavy wood = less likelihood of tree kills by bears. Antonovka, P-18, and Dolgo rootstocks are the main 3 for growing full-sized trees. For heavier, clayish soils, MM-111 is a great rootstock that will grow a tree about 85% of full size.

I went with DR varieties of apples & crabs because our trees won't be babied and pampered for the most part. As Sandbur said above, the region you live in will determine which apples will do the best for you for DR and season/drop times. Goldrush does great for our location, but it gets CAR in many other places with red cedars nearby.

For Teeder - our camp is in NC Pa. mountains. The varieties I chose for our camp (mainly for DR) are:
Liberty
Enterprise
Galarina
Priscilla
Goldrush
Sundance
Crimson Topaz
Wolf River
Prairie Spy
Winecrisp
Dayton
Chestnut crab
Winter Wildlife crab
All Winter Hangover crab
Franklin Cider apple
Kerr
Nova Scotia crab
Turning Point
Buckman crab
Sweet November crab
Road Kill crab

There are a few more varieties that we have, but I probably wouldn't plant them again. Those just haven't done much for us at this point. One thing I HAVE learned is that B-118 rooted trees lean (at least in our soils). If any of the B-118 trees fall over or otherwise poop out on us, replacement trees will be on Antonovka, P-18, Dolgo, or MM-111 roots. All these have rooted really well for us.
 
Enterprise and Liberty need polinators?

Debated hard between blue hill and whitetail. Whitetail got back to me on questions, so I went with him. However, that roadkill crab sounds pretty good to me.

Debating what to do about my antonovka bareroots. Seems like they're slow grower, Im guessing even with grafted tops. Might be about 5 years or so before I move, so I'd like to enjoy some apples before I go. Removing a few from a corner of my property and putting in the whitetail crabs. Likely grafting chesnut crab and freedom grafts on them.
 
Enterprise and Liberty need polinators?

Debated hard between blue hill and whitetail. Whitetail got back to me on questions, so I went with him. However, that roadkill crab sounds pretty good to me.

Debating what to do about my antonovka bareroots. Seems like they're slow grower, Im guessing even with grafted tops. Might be about 5 years or so before I move, so I'd like to enjoy some apples before I go. Removing a few from a corner of my property and putting in the whitetail crabs. Likely grafting chesnut crab and freedom grafts on them.
From my understanding Enterprise and Liberty need pollinators , but I'm no expert and don't have any planted. I ordered Liberty and Enterprise from Whitetail Crabs for spring 2023. From my research a Granny smith with pollinate Liberty...so I'm planting my Liberty near them and read Freedom will pollinate Enterprise. Since you have crabs in the area they could pollinate your apples as well.

I have a B H roadkill planted in 2021 and was excited to get it , and planted it in a prime spot with full sun , but thus far I haven't been impressed with it's growth.. Everything I planted from whitetail the same year did much better . I'll give it a couple more years , if the roadkill doesn't pan out I'll pull it out and plant something else. PS check out Mid west deer trees...he has a Crab called "country road crab" looks alot like the roadkill
 
Enterprise and Liberty need polinators?
All apple trees need pollinating partners. Most crab apple trees will pollinate "regular apple trees", so if you have a crab or 2 planted, they should do the trick. The thing is matching their bloom times so the bees and other bugs can swap pollen between trees. Some of the crab apple trees offered by nurseries are offered just for pollination purposes, and they have extended bloom times to cover a variety of apple trees. Check out Adams County Nursery's (ACN) catalog online for some crab pollinators.

If you're located in N.Y., contact Cornell U. with some questions. They have a top-notch apple program there. Cummins Nursery can also answer pollination questions.
 
Curious what whitetail crabs uses for rootstock.

They use B118 rootstock. This is likely why they grow and produce fast..
 
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From my understanding Enterprise and Liberty need pollinators , but I'm no expert and don't have any planted. I ordered Liberty and Enterprise from Whitetail Crabs for spring 2023. From my research a Granny smith with pollinate Liberty...so I'm planting my Liberty near them and read Freedom will pollinate Enterprise. Since you have crabs in the area they could pollinate your apples as well.

I have a B H roadkill planted in 2021 and was excited to get it , and planted it in a prime spot with full sun , but thus far I haven't been impressed with it's growth.. Everything I planted from whitetail the same year did much better . I'll give it a couple more years , if the roadkill doesn't pan out I'll pull it out and plant something else. PS check out Mid west deer trees...he has a Crab called "country road crab" looks alot like the roadkill

I have a Country Road Crab in the ground, but no fruit yet.


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I have a Country Road Crab in the ground, but no fruit yet.


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Did you get any other trees from Midwest deer trees , and in general how do their trees rate ?. If I have room I'll try some from them spring of 2024. I already have 6 trees coming from Whitetail crabs and 7 Nuttall oaks seedlings to plant in spring of 2023...That's enough for me to water and care for in one year...
 
Did you get any other trees from Midwest deer trees , and in general how do their trees rate ?. If I have room I'll try some from them spring of 2024. I already have 6 trees coming from Whitetail crabs and 7 Nuttall oaks seedlings to plant in spring of 2023...That's enough for me to water and care for in one year...

I have a handful of them and can’t remember all of the varieties right now. Some have grown well and a few are slow.

I planted some smaller potted trees(fall 2021 and spring 2022), which is new for me.
I don’t think he sells many in pots.


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Nice! I have one in the ground this past spring.
 
I have many of the apples mentioned in this thread.
And have a lot going in other soft-mast options.

But for grafted apples....for my deer dirt (SC Michigan...43rd latitude) my current most dependable producers are:

Goldrush ..... a real late dropper. Looked at my single one two days ago (11/23rd).....and it is still carrying 70% of it's September load. And....it puts out a lot of fruit on a B118.
Liberty ..... drops earlier, mid-October, but is dependable and carries a good crop. On Emla7.
Redfield .....drops by November 15th....but hangs through October with the occasional drop to keep the critters visiting. A heavy annual cropper. (btw, Redfield makes a wonderful colorful applesauce. It is our favorite. The flesh of the apple is a deep red and that imparts great color to sauce. It can be 'dry'....so we blend it with other varieties.)

Though with all that said, I no longer concentrate on apple varieties. Crabapples are where it is at for me. I have found a couple of wild 'mother trees' that throw a seed true to its mother. And they produce heavy loads annually that hang late. I grow 'em from seed and have 'em grafted also. And......they seem to be disease resistant. ALL of my propagation in 2023 will be of these wild crab seedlings. By the way they look an awful like that pic of the commercially sold 'Droptine' posted earlier in the thread.

Lastly, to the OP......I would also suggest finding Kieffer pears. They are a bedrock for my soft mast offering. They grow and produce fast. They produce very heavily. Every year...dependably.
True.....the fruit has all dropped by, say, October 21st.....but they have fed a lot of deer and they get them coming to that locale.

Good luck.
 
I see alot of people list Liberty. That's one I don't have.
 
Liberty - as in - freedom from fussing and spraying. It's a great apple tree for DR.
I had a second year liberty tree this summer with a bunch of apples. I had to thin them mid-summer when the main leader was starting to bend! I will be planting more
 
I would love to get some apple trees going but I really don’t think the bears would allow it. I had what I think were 7 different bears on camera in a single day in September. They seem to love the red clover in my plots. Following along with this anyway and might try a few of the different crabs mentioned here next spring.

I did see a post or pictures one time of a guy that bear proofed his apple trees with the metal cage off an IBC tote I believe. Not sure if that was on this site or not.
Fairoak,

No personal experience, but there are specific trees that claim to be bear hardy. Think whitetail crabs has some, Turkey creek and fedco in Maine have varieties too. Bears are literally everywhere, except by your treestand!

I used to have a bucket of rocks at my treestand up north. Too shoo off a younger bear from ruining my deer hunt.
 
I would take a couple apples into the tree with me to throw at them myself.
 
Fairoak,

No personal experience, but there are specific trees that claim to be bear hardy. Think whitetail crabs has some, Turkey creek and fedco in Maine have varieties too. Bears are literally everywhere, except by your treestand!

I used to have a bucket of rocks at my treestand up north. Too shoo off a younger bear from ruining my deer hunt.
I have 12 trees coming in April. I have to at least try to get some apple trees going. I’m gonna cage and stake the crap out of them and see what happens. Ordered 4 dolgo, 4 30-06, 2 buckman and 2 Kerr. Thinking maybe trying barb wire and some other things to deter them. We’ll see!
 
"Ordered 4 dolgo,"

If I may, I'll add my experience with Dolgos, FWIW.

I like 'em for several reasons.....none of 'em for hunting near 'em.

1. Mine comes in annually with an abundant crop of fruit just a hair smaller than a .50cent piece. The crop ripens early....
2. ....which is another reason I like 'em --- it is where I put my first trail cams of the season in mid- to late August.
3. The deer clearly smell 'em and never-fail to show up and scrounge underneath the trees.....and rear up on their hind legs to get at the lower fruit. And I got the pics to prove it.
4. For about 2 or 3 weeks they make for a beautiful tree. They look like a decorated Xmas tree with bright red maturing fruit, and yellow beginning-to-mature. It makes for a nice display tree. And the tree itself is handsome with a nice shape and attractive leaves.

And then it is all gone. By late September. Oh sure, there may be some 'mummies' that hang on into late November...but just a couple handfulls.
So, it is a nice tree that will make you proud. But by deer hunting season the cupboard is bare.
 
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