Pear/Crabapple Tree---Small Woods opening

[Ck1084]

I have some pear/crabapples growing in small woods openings of about 0.5 acres, and they seem to be doing well.

My question is what would be the minimum size clearing I could get away with? I have a couple true woods food plots, that are only 0.1-0.2 acres (small canopy opening). Right now I grow some clover and WR, but I was thinking if I could get a fruit tree or 2 to produce in each one it would make a heck of a draw. Does anyone have any experience with this? Will a pear/crabapple thrive and produce with only a couple hours of sunlight a day? Or is this a waste of time and money?

 

[BlueSpruceOutfitters]

I currently have a tiny kill plot, less than a 1/10 acre, that I have two Kieffer pears in. Both are doing well, and hopefully will produce in a few years. It was just about finding the right spot that gets the most sun as possible. I also killed a few trees that opened the canopy up a bit as well. All options! Can't hurt to try!!! See what happens!!

 

[Telemark]

I would think you could do it depending on how tall the surrounding trees are.

 

[Ck1084]

Thanks Guys. Bluespruceoutfitters.....how tall are the surrounding trees? I'm surrounded by 40-60ft semi-mature maple and oaks.

I've heard from several guys that if they could plant one pear it would be the Kieffer.

 

[BlueSpruceOutfitters]

It's in the middle of stand of mature oaks and hickories. Every bit of 50-80' trees. I spent two days in the summer conducting a "sun assessment": I sat in the plot with a lawn chair and beer and watched to see what area got the most sun. Lol. I also did a little trimming of some surrounding trees. They're doing much better than I ever expected but, I also baby them as well because the lack of sun. Weed control, cages, foliar fertilizer and fruit tree sprays.

 

[Rit]

Taking 1 or 2 big canopy trees out to the East or South can can make a world of difference.

 

[Ck1084]

Not a bad idea haha. I'm sure there's a couple spots in the middle of the opening that receive more light than others. It sounds very promising though. I think next spring I'll order 5 or 6 trees and give it a try.

Unfortunately it is a leased property, so I can't cut and big trees. If I owned it I'd have little honey holes and kill plots everywhere.

 

[Prof.Kent]

I have experience with fruit trees in a forest setting.
I have read that apple trees need 5 hours of direct sunlight a day minimum. That may let them survive , but not thrive. Make sure it is a vigorous grower and give it fertilizer and put it on a full size rootstock (orr MM111, B118) so it can reach for the sky. Even then they will probably go biennial on you. Fruit trees need sunlight!

 

[Ck1084]

Thanks Prof Kent. I didn't even think about dwarf vs standard. I'll def try the full size variety when I do plant them. It sounds like its worth a shot for the $100 I'll have in planting a couple trees.

The property hasn't been timbered for awhile either. If I can get lucky and they select cut it in the next few years, sunlight shouldn't be a problem at all.

 

[BobinCt]

CK: I tried that with a few trees years ago and never got lucky with good growth. Ill never plant another fruit tree unless it gets 6 hours of sunlight a day. The few trees grew but didn’t amount to anything good. Location ( for sun) is most important when planting a tree in my opinion.

 

[Telemark]

Good point that you need to plant big trees. A2 rootstock grows big trees that produce apples early. Certain varieties grow huge trees too. Astrakhan grows insanely fast

 

[Charman03]

Just grow the tree in full sunlight and dump the apples in the woods :)

 

[chummer]

I have a handful of apples planted around a small clearing. They are growing very tall but not putting on much girth. No that they are established I need to take out a couple trees that could increase the sun from 4-5 hours to 5-6 hours. Worth a shot but 2 hours of sun won’t cut it.

 

[Chainsaw]

I have a handful of apples planted around a small clearing. They are growing very tall but not putting on much girth. No that they are established I need to take out a couple trees that could increase the sun from 4-5 hours to 5-6 hours. Worth a shot but 2 hours of sun won’t cut it.

I have opened up the canopy on a Couple of thousand wild trees over the years with many of them possibly never having grown an apple prior to that. A few turned productive within twelve months. Most turned productive in two to three years.A handful were crushed by tree dropping miscalculations. So the Apple trees here did grow with little sun but they did not produce many apples; and the few apples they produced were often small. Basically if there is not enough sun for a good vegetable garden then it is not a worthwhile effort to try to grow apple trees there. A sun assessment as Blue Spruce does is time well spent.
And while doing the sun assessment note not only how much sun gets thru but how much is likely to get thru in five to ten years.
Here as on your property Chummer, a couple to four hours of sun never did cut it.

 

[BuckSnort]

My family just did a clearcut on the property. I have thought about planting some apple trees out there but know that eventually they would be shaded out by other trees unless some clearing was done. Might be worth a shot, especially if I could keep the competition cut back early on.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

My family just did a clearcut on the property. I have thought about planting some apple trees out there but know that eventually they would be shaded out by other trees unless some clearing was done. Might be worth a shot, especially if I could keep the competition cut back early on.

In this situation I think I would plan a spot for the orchards, pile the slash, rake/drag/till a fire break around the planned orchard, burn it off, and let nature take its course. I'm betting you will get a bunch of grasses and forbs to grow in place of trees. Plant the trees and make the area surrounding the trees considerably wider to allow for the increasing tree growth and shade that will produce.

 

[Duck Creek]

Even then they will probably go biennial on you.


What makes fruit trees go biennial?
What are some things you can you do to keep this from happening?