I purchased a home with almost 6 acres in SW Pennsylvania. I know it’s not a lot of land, but my wife and daughter love seeing wildlife and it’s in a nice rural area. I have an area that’s about 1/3 of an acre at the bottom of the yard before my woods start directly next to a small 5’ side stream that the previous owner kept cut. I think it would be a perfect area to plant some fruit trees, but I have no idea where to start on what kind, how many to order for that size spot, when to plant, or where to order from. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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yoderjac
5 year old buck +
The first thing to thing about is what you are trying to accomplish. Most fruit trees need sun. As long as this place gets sufficient sun things might work out. Fruit for home use? Fruit for animals only? Attract deer? Other game? Only during hunting season? Wildlife observation around the house through out the year? The kind of trees are often limited by the location but even more so by your objectives. With your area limited, you will want to spend a lot of time making sure the trees you decided on will achieve your objectives. You have a lot less room for experimenting than folks with lots of land.
If you can articulate your objectives, there are lots of guys on here with experience with a large variety of fruit trees who can give you the pros and cons of different options.
Thanks,
Jack
If you can articulate your objectives, there are lots of guys on here with experience with a large variety of fruit trees who can give you the pros and cons of different options.
Thanks,
Jack
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Well, one option is apples. They grow well in your area. Many of us are planting lots of trees where maintenance is an issue so we focus primarily on disease resistant trees. There are a lot of disease resistant crab apple varieties. If you want to have apples for the family to eat as well and you have time to do tree maintenance (spraying, pruning, fertilizing, etc.), I would schedule a visit to ACN. It is in SW PA. Figure out what kinds of apples you like to eat that ripen and fall around bow season. They can help you with which varieties pollenate each other and give you the details on maintenance. The will sell you the trees as well and give you advice on planting them. Here is a link to their web site: https://www.acnursery.com/fruit-trees/apple-trees
Another option for your area is American persimmons. They take longer to produce fruit than apples but are a near zero maintenance tree. Deer love persimmons and you can find some that drop when you want.
Pears are another option. For deer Keefer is a good deer pear but they tend to drop in September in my area and are cleaned up by game quickly. That may before your bowseason. I'm sure there are some other varieties that drop a bit later and you may find one you like as well.
There are a couple options to consider. Establishing a relationship with a local orchard is really a good idea if you want fruit trees. There is nothing like a face to face conversation with an orchard owner to get some great advice.
Thanks,
Jack
Another option for your area is American persimmons. They take longer to produce fruit than apples but are a near zero maintenance tree. Deer love persimmons and you can find some that drop when you want.
Pears are another option. For deer Keefer is a good deer pear but they tend to drop in September in my area and are cleaned up by game quickly. That may before your bowseason. I'm sure there are some other varieties that drop a bit later and you may find one you like as well.
There are a couple options to consider. Establishing a relationship with a local orchard is really a good idea if you want fruit trees. There is nothing like a face to face conversation with an orchard owner to get some great advice.
Thanks,
Jack
Telemark
5 year old buck +
A lot of people like the whitetail crabs.
http://www.northernwhitetailcrabs.com/whitetail-tree-selections
http://www.northernwhitetailcrabs.com/whitetail-tree-selections
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Does this area get water that lays there from heavy rains or stream flooding ?? ( you mentioned it's at the "bottom" of your yard ) Apple trees don't like wet feet - crabs either really. If the soil drains well in this area, you have a chance at good fruit trees, since you said it gets lots of sun.
Is the soil more clay-ish ( heavy ), or sandier - loamy. ( lighter soil ) ??
Is the soil more clay-ish ( heavy ), or sandier - loamy. ( lighter soil ) ??
The stream does not flood, its usually only a trickle until heavy rains come and then it flows pretty good but we had record totals in rain amounts this year and it never got close to coming over the bank. There has never been any standing water in the area and it’s slopes slightly towards the creek. I’d say the soil is lighter and I’ve never encountered any clay in the yard. What’s a good place to order apple trees and how many would be appropriate for this area?
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
I would not order trees on-line if you have zero experience. A short trip to an orchard that sells trees is well worth the experience and you save on shipping cost of you buy the trees while you are there. You will have a lot to learn about trees. For example, "How many" is predicated on other decisions you will need to make. Do you want full size trees, Semi-Dwarf trees, or Dwarf trees. For most of us planting them on large properties solely for wildlife full size or semi-dwarf work the best. Some dwarf trees can't support themselves but they can produce a lot of apples a lot faster. They typically needs some kind of support, but for a backyard setting, that may be ok. The specific rootstock best for you will depend not only on your area, but your soil. I'm in VA and went to an orchard about 30 minutes from my farm. Soil types are similar to mine, heavy clay. In my case, they recommended M111 rootstock because it performs well in heavy clay (It is a semi-dwarf).
That is just an example, but I found a trip to a local orchard very helpful at understanding apples in general. Once I had that basic understanding and advice relevant to my locality, I was able to use the smarts guys have on this form to think about the deer related aspects.
On more suggestion. I know you put your location in your original post, but take a minute and add it to your profile. That makes it much easier for folks to give you better advice as your location becomes available on each post.
Thanks,
jack
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
If you're in SW Pa., you won't go wrong ordering trees from Adams County Nursery, ( ACN ), in south-central Pa. They're on Penn State's list of highly recommended nurseries for fruit trees that has nurseries from a number of states on it. I've ordered apple trees from ACN for our hunting camp and every tree was great - very nice stock. Cummins is also a very good nursery out of Ithaca, N.Y. Our camp has bought lots of trees from them too with no problems at all. There are good nurseries from all around the country, but those are 2 that are from the same relative "neighborhood" - climate-wise - as your location. Call ACN and Cummins to have them send you their catalogs. ACN has experts there who you can talk to ( I have ) that can answer any questions you have about varieties. If you give them your location, they can suggest several varieties & rootstocks that would work for you. Nice people there at ACN, and they're the closest GREAT nursery to your location. All the trees I've gotten from ACN have been 3/4" to 1" trunk dia. and had a number of branches already ( that's called "feathered" ).
From all I've learned from others on here, nursery owners, Penn State's head of fruit tree breeding program, and several universities' written studies - a couple good bets for disease resistance and ease for home growers are : Liberty, Enterprise, Galarina, Sundance, Winecrisp, Nova Spy, and Priscilla. These are all regular apples - not crab apples. These have all been bred for disease resistance so growers could cut back or eliminate spraying for the major apple diseases. I'm no expert, but I ask questions and seek as much info from the real experts as I can get my hands on.
The rootstock that your trees are grafted onto will determine how big the trees get and what diseases / conditions they will tolerate & resist. For most of the soils in Pa., Penn State recommended to me to go with MM-111 rootstock. It'll grow a tree about 16 to 18 ft. tall, and MM-111 is well-anchored, ( doesn't need staking for support ), resists wooly apple aphids, & tolerates heavier, poorly drained soil. You can read about apple rootstocks online. I'll come back here with a couple links.
Back. Links to rootstock info : www.goodfruit.com/wp-content/uploads/appleRootstock-Feb12016webPullout.pdf
www.orangepippintrees.com/articles/fruit-tree-advice/rootstocks-for-apple-trees
Do yourself a favor and research some of the varieties listed above and basic apple tree care as well. Knowing how to plant, protect, prune and train your apple trees will save you headaches. A good resource is Penn State's publication - " Fruit Production For The Home Gardener ". I have it and it covers many fruits - not just apples. It runs about $12 and is worth every penny. It's not so heavy-scientific that the avg. person can't understand it. Hope this helps.
From all I've learned from others on here, nursery owners, Penn State's head of fruit tree breeding program, and several universities' written studies - a couple good bets for disease resistance and ease for home growers are : Liberty, Enterprise, Galarina, Sundance, Winecrisp, Nova Spy, and Priscilla. These are all regular apples - not crab apples. These have all been bred for disease resistance so growers could cut back or eliminate spraying for the major apple diseases. I'm no expert, but I ask questions and seek as much info from the real experts as I can get my hands on.
The rootstock that your trees are grafted onto will determine how big the trees get and what diseases / conditions they will tolerate & resist. For most of the soils in Pa., Penn State recommended to me to go with MM-111 rootstock. It'll grow a tree about 16 to 18 ft. tall, and MM-111 is well-anchored, ( doesn't need staking for support ), resists wooly apple aphids, & tolerates heavier, poorly drained soil. You can read about apple rootstocks online. I'll come back here with a couple links.
Back. Links to rootstock info : www.goodfruit.com/wp-content/uploads/appleRootstock-Feb12016webPullout.pdf
www.orangepippintrees.com/articles/fruit-tree-advice/rootstocks-for-apple-trees
Do yourself a favor and research some of the varieties listed above and basic apple tree care as well. Knowing how to plant, protect, prune and train your apple trees will save you headaches. A good resource is Penn State's publication - " Fruit Production For The Home Gardener ". I have it and it covers many fruits - not just apples. It runs about $12 and is worth every penny. It's not so heavy-scientific that the avg. person can't understand it. Hope this helps.
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Charman03
5 year old buck +
Agree about Adams County Nursery, but unfortunately they had minimal trees in b118 and emla 111 this year for spring 19 orders. They may have some emla 107 left if your ok with that size.
What county are you in? Your county conservation district should have a tree sale this spring and they usually offer a Apple 3pack on 107 root of the typical liberty, goldrush etc.
What county are you in? Your county conservation district should have a tree sale this spring and they usually offer a Apple 3pack on 107 root of the typical liberty, goldrush etc.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Oh, I was picturing much further south when you said SW PA. I think of Pittsburgh as more western PA. I grew up in Johnstown. You are a much further drive from ACN than I had originally pictured. You might find a nursery closer to you to visit, but I don't know of any by name or have any experience with nurseries in your area.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Yep - when you said SW Pa., I was thinking Bedford County area. Beaver Co. is some distance from ACN. Still a good resource though. Lots of help there and they ship trees to your location. Your call on where to contact, of course.
