Bluehill 2025

2025 trees in the ground today. 2 Sweet Dogs and 2 Smitty’s Seedlings. Impressed with their trees this year.

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Looks nice! Putting on a window screen seminar.
 
Looks nice! Putting on a window screen seminar.
If I don’t do it now chances are it doesn’t get done. lol. Then I ran out of cut screen. Oh well.
 
If I don’t do it now chances are it doesn’t get done. lol. Then I ran out of cut screen. Oh well.
Yeah those rolls run out pretty quick. Seems I'm always running out on the last ones then piecing together old scraps. The fast growing trees outgrow screen awful fast. I've had some come loose and knock on wood they've never been chewed yet. Still get them fixed up tho.
 
Yeah those rolls run out pretty quick. Seems I'm always running out on the last ones then piecing together old scraps. The fast growing trees outgrow screen awful fast. I've had some come loose and knock on wood they've never been chewed yet. Still get them fixed up tho.
I’ve lost a few trees I neglected to get protected before winter….
 
It is always interesting to me how areas are so different. I have never screened a tree for voles, mice, rats, or rabbits and never seen evidence of gnawing. (Better knock on wood). Yet I literally cannot recover hardly a basket of fruit combined between all my trees between the coons, possums, and squirrels.
 
It is always interesting to me how areas are so different. I have never screened a tree for voles, mice, rats, or rabbits and never seen evidence of gnawing. (Better knock on wood). Yet I literally cannot recover hardly a basket of fruit combined between all my trees between the coons, possums, and squirrels.
If you’re down south and have no winter I can’t imagine mice/voles being a problem. They aren’t a problem during non snow months if you keep the weeds away from the trunks up here. It’s a winter issue.
 
And I’ve got issues with coons in our river bottom property. Damn things! They haven’t been a problem in our hills property but my trees there are just starting to produce so we’ll see what happens going forward.
 
Those branches looks amazing for being shipped I assume. maybe there is a benefit to not stuffing the snot out of a shipping box.

Tons of voles here. Window screen or hardware fabric 1/4" mesh around the trees. At home I roundup around the tree 3-4x a year and mow. At camp I use around 2.5-3ft of 1/4' mesh hardware fabric as the cage itself. Saw some vole caves in the food plot, but not as bad at the home plot.

I removed one window screen from my home plot as an experiment. It is a bartlet pear that got fireblight the past 2 summers. it is about 40ft from the food plot and 50ft from the backyard brushline. loose it, no big loss.
 
I bought 3 persimmons and 2 chestnuts this year. I expected small trees and they were, but that was ok. First time I was unimpressed with the root systems on the persimmons from Bluehill. Wish I took some photos. I hope they make it. Their apple and pear trees have been awesome for me. First time I got lucky enough to get persimmons from them, usually sold out.
 
I bought 3 persimmons and 2 chestnuts this year. I expected small trees and they were, but that was ok. First time I was unimpressed with the root systems on the persimmons from Bluehill. Wish I took some photos. I hope they make it. Their apple and pear trees have been awesome for me. First time I got lucky enough to get persimmons from them, usually sold out.
That surprises me. I received 2 pears, 3 crabs and 2 grafted 'simmons that all had large root systems. I had to dig substantially bigger holes than anticipated.

FYI: Pears and crabs seem to be booming despite two heavy frosts right at bud break. Fulldraw Persimmons have yet to break bud. But they're touted as being BH's latest-budding persimmon, so I'm not concerned.
 
I got 6 crabs from bluehill this year. All had exceptional roots. I’m trying miracle tubes for the first time this year for these trees and a pile of American plum seedlings I got from Willis Orchards.

The plums are already green and growing. The two dolgo crabs had green when I looked yesterday. The trailman, chestnut and Kerr crabs are still waiting.

The start of an orchard in an old cow pasture. We need some rain.

The plums are the little clusters of three or four. The six crabs are on the south side. Next year I’m considering American hazelnut in the plum gaps and extending the crabapples to the south six at a time, probably until I’m out of space.

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Has anyone had success with Blue Hill's chestnuts? I planted 2 of their varieties as 3-4' trees about 5 years ago in tree cages and have been slightly disappointed with the chestnuts produced so far. I have 3 of the Fall Draw and 2 of the Woodland varieties. The trees have all grown well, but are just not producing many branches (and by extension, the terminal buds needed for chestnuts). The largest tree is about 4 inches in diameter and is about 15 feet tall and has produced exactly one chestnut. There are several other chestnuts nearby within 30 yards or so that are tasseling so I don't think it is a pollination issue.

I have several chestnut trees that I have grown from seed in that amount of time in the same area that are already producing more burs.
 
Has anyone had success with Blue Hill's chestnuts? I planted 2 of their varieties as 3-4' trees about 5 years ago in tree cages and have been slightly disappointed with the chestnuts produced so far. I have 3 of the Fall Draw and 2 of the Woodland varieties. The trees have all grown well, but are just not producing many branches (and by extension, the terminal buds needed for chestnuts). The largest tree is about 4 inches in diameter and is about 15 feet tall and has produced exactly one chestnut. There are several other chestnuts nearby within 30 yards or so that are tasseling so I don't think it is a pollination issue.

I have several chestnut trees that I have grown from seed in that amount of time in the same area that are already producing more burs.
Never bought any, but through experience, some trees just produce faster than others. Chestnut trees benefit from boron supplementation to aid in nut production. Borax is a cheap/easy way to do it.
 
I got 6 crabs from bluehill this year. All had exceptional roots. I’m trying miracle tubes for the first time this year for these trees and a pile of American plum seedlings I got from Willis Orchards.

The plums are already green and growing. The two dolgo crabs had green when I looked yesterday. The trailman, chestnut and Kerr crabs are still waiting.

The start of an orchard in an old cow pasture. We need some rain.

The plums are the little clusters of three or four. The six crabs are on the south side. Next year I’m considering American hazelnut in the plum gaps and extending the crabapples to the south six at a time, probably until I’m out of space.

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that orchard should be quite a draw in a few years. Are you able to water the trees at all during dry spells? They should be fine on their own eventually, but watering the first year will be helpful.
 
that orchard should be quite a draw in a few years. Are you able to water the trees at all during dry spells? They should be fine on their own eventually, but watering the first year will be helpful.

I haul water in buckets with my polar trailer. It’s a treat.


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I haul water in buckets with my polar trailer. It’s a treat.


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I should add, that I’ll be installing weed mats and mulch this weekend. Each crab has window screen in addition to the tube. The screen goes a few inches below the surface. Gophers are a thing here. I’ve lost two of seven in my other small orchard.


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I got 6 crabs from bluehill this year. All had exceptional roots. I’m trying miracle tubes for the first time this year for these trees and a pile of American plum seedlings I got from Willis Orchards.

The plums are already green and growing. The two dolgo crabs had green when I looked yesterday. The trailman, chestnut and Kerr crabs are still waiting.

The start of an orchard in an old cow pasture. We need some rain.

The plums are the little clusters of three or four. The six crabs are on the south side. Next year I’m considering American hazelnut in the plum gaps and extending the crabapples to the south six at a time, probably until I’m out of space.

989f72704ff6776543af55d08a84e6b3.jpg

d04507d454f49647ce5ef605ff223a8e.jpg



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How did you get Blue Hill’s trees in a tube? Mine struggled to get into 3-4’ dia. cages.

Not sure I’d use a tube on an apple/crab. Seems like havens for critters.
 
How did you get Blue Hill’s trees in a tube? Mine struggled to get into 3-4’ dia. cages.

Not sure I’d use a tube on an apple/crab. Seems like havens for critters.

Trimmed them.


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