What trees are you planting spring 2026 ?

[TonySoprano]

IT wont be long now...less than a month . I just checked my records and I have 3 trees shipping from Blue Hill on March 2 nd . 2 winter Crabarinias and 1 winter Deer Pear.

Then From Whitetail crabs (not sure of the ship date) 2 Clay's century trees , and from Midwest Deer Trees 3 Holy Crabs and 1 Swamp Donkey.

Meanwile it's snowing right now , and we have about 2 inches of frozen ice & snow on the ground. Supposed to hit 54 degrees next Wed...so maybe spring is on the way.

 

[Barndog56]

Not ordering any new trees, but I still have several seedling apple trees in my nursery area that will be transplanted to replace any dead trees in the orchard. With a weekend at -20 with no snow cover for insulation, it wouldn't surprise me to lose a handful of young trees.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Gotta wait a little longer here in PA....I'm planning (see:hoping) to plant the last 2 weekends in March (if the tundra ever thaws). I got 16 trees coming (4 from Whitetail Crabs, 12 from Blue Hill) so I might need to start prepping pretty soon...also gotta let me helper (as in my dad haha) know and see if he can give me a hand...definitely goes alot faster with 2 people...plan is set for now (red are from WC, Blue are from Blue Hill, white are existing)..plan will probably change 10 times from now till then..

 

[PatinPA]

Like to find some more strawberry bush and hazelnuts. I planted some last year and didn't have much survival. The hazelnuts did slightly better. Might've lost a few crabapples but need to wait to see because I don't have anymore room to plant much treewise.

 

[Dantana]

I dont plan to purchase any fruit trees this year unless I found a good sale. I have around 20 purchased and wild rootstocks that were grafted last spring that need to be moved to their final destination. Another half dozen failed grafts that need to be re-grafted this spring. Probably another half dozen wild seedlings or root suckers that I found over the past year that I will top work and move. Most of my grafting work will be topworking existing fruit trees.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Like to find some more strawberry bush and hazelnuts. I planted some last year and didn't have much survival. The hazelnuts did slightly better. Might've lost a few crabapples but need to wait to see because I don't have anymore room to plant much treewise.

do the deer eat the strawberry bush? I had looked into that for that purpose before but never pulled the trigger...i think Cold Stream might still have some...

 

[HoosierHunter07]

I've got the following coming...

Blue Hill
(2) Full Draw Persimmons
(2) Deer Luscious Persimmons
(2) Roadkill Crabs
(2) Whole Season Crabs

Indiana DNR
(100) Gray Dogwood
(100) Silky Dogwood

Real World Wildlife
(1,200) Miscanthus rhizomes

 

[Hoytvectrix]

Like to find some more strawberry bush and hazelnuts. I planted some last year and didn't have much survival. The hazelnuts did slightly better. Might've lost a few crabapples but need to wait to see because I don't have anymore room to plant much treewise.

Let me know if you'd like some hazelnut seed. I have plenty extra open air pollinated hybrid seed leftover.

 

[PatinPA]

do the deer eat the strawberry bush? I had looked into that for that purpose before but never pulled the trigger...i think Cold Stream might still have some...

Not sure yet. I just planted them last year so I caged them. Deer supposedly love it but I couldn't tell you anything yet. I think I bought 10 and only 2 or 3 survived through the fall. We'll see what survives the winter too.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

5 each - concolor fir, douglas fir, frasier fir, and canaan fir...for future Christmas Trees.

3 each - hybrid poplar, hackberry, highbush cranberry, black walnut, silver maple, Eastern cottonwood, big toothed aspen, and basswood...trying to fill in a bit around a recent 3 acre clearcut to provide some structure and biodiversity.

25 each - sandbar willow and wetland rose

1 Burgundy apple on G890, 2 Kerr on M111, and 1 Frostbite on M111.

 

[gunfun13]

This is what I have grafted up in the garden to transplant:

Ed's Crazy Crab x 3
Florina x 3
Golden Russett x 2
Goldrush x 3
Hardy Cumberland
Jonafree x 5
October Crab x 2
Roadkill Crab x 2
Sweet November Crab
Turning Point x 2
Wolverine Crab x 5 (my own find that I named)
Korean Giant Pear
Kieffer Pear
Trinity Pear (my own find that I named)
Miller Pear (my own find that I named)

On Order:
Full Draw Persimmon
Deer Candy Persimmon
Deer Magnet Persimmon
Winter Deer Pear

 

[Derek Reese 29]

This is what I have grafted up in the garden to transplant:

Ed's Crazy Crab x 3
Florina x 3
Golden Russett x 2
Goldrush x 3
Hardy Cumberland
Jonafree x 5
October Crab x 2
Roadkill Crab x 2
Sweet November Crab
Turning Point x 2
Wolverine Crab x 5 (my own find that I named)
Korean Giant Pear
Kieffer Pear
Trinity Pear (my own find that I named)
Miller Pear (my own find that I named)

On Order:
Full Draw Persimmon
Deer Candy Persimmon
Deer Magnet Persimmon
Winter Deer Pear

i dont feel bad about only planting 16 fruit trees anymore...

 

[PatinPA]

i dont feel bad about only planting 16 fruit trees anymore...

Yes, some of these orders make my back hurt just reading them. haha

 

[TonySoprano]

Gotta wait a little longer here in PA....I'm planning (see:hoping) to plant the last 2 weekends in March (if the tundra ever thaws). I got 16 trees coming (4 from Whitetail Crabs, 12 from Blue Hill) so I might need to start prepping pretty soon...also gotta let me helper (as in my dad haha) know and see if he can give me a hand...definitely goes alot faster with 2 people...plan is set for now (red are from WC, Blue are from Blue Hill, white are existing)..plan will probably change 10 times from now till then..
View attachment 88768

Nice Layout !

 

[TonySoprano]

Yes, some of these orders make my back hurt just reading them. haha

I heard that !. I -know- I'm overpaying for shipping by just ordering 2-3 trees from one place. However I'm running out of space , and want to try trees from several places , so it is what it is.

On the bright side as long as the trees don't all arrive on the same day, it'll be a breeze to plant no more than 4 trees in a day.
First time ordering trees from Midwest Deer trees....I'm excited to see how the Holy Crab and Swamp Donkey do in Virginia.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

I heard that !. I -know- I'm overpaying for shipping by just ordering 2-3 trees from one place. However I'm running out of space , and want to try trees from several places , so it is what it is.

On the bright side as long as the trees don't all arrive on the same day, it'll be a breeze to plant no more than 4 trees in a day.
First time ordering trees from Midwest Deer trees....I'm excited to see how the Holy Crab and Swamp Donkey do in Virginia.

I'm starting to run out of space also and my wife is aggressively requesting more "people trees" than "deer trees".....

 

[TonySoprano]

I'm starting to run out of space also and my wife is aggressively requesting more "people trees" than "deer trees".....

By my count looks like you'll have 67 trees !...NICE. Are any of your existing trees a draw for the deer yet , or are the still too young ?.

Last year One out my 2 Deer pears were a draw, and 1 Native Nurseries wild deer pear was a draw....but with smaller pears than I'd like.

Must have been a late frost because in 2025 , because there were just a handful of crabs on all my trees. Other years I had deer standing up on their hind legs to get 30-06 and Droptine crabs.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

By my count looks like you'll have 67 trees !...NICE. Are any of your existing trees a draw for the deer yet , or are the still too young ?.

Last year One out my 2 Deer pears were a draw, and 1 Native Nurseries wild deer pear was a draw....but with smaller pears than I'd like.

Must have been a late frost because in 2025 , because there were just a handful of crabs on all my trees. Other years I had deer standing up on their hind legs to get 30-06 and Droptine crabs.

Best Draw trees this year were a 2nd leaf Sweet Advent Pear, 4th leaf Eliza’s Choice, 3rd leaf droptine, 3rd leaf golden hornet, 2nd leaf roadkill crab, 2nd leaf hunter deer pear and the best was a 2nd leaf harvest pear. That harvest pear was LOADED and you could smell the sweetness from 30’ away.
Harvest Pear

Golden Hornet

 

[Turkey Creek]

800 shrubs from various sources. Rough leafed, Gray, Red osier, Silky Dogwoods, Fragrant Sumac and False Indigo. Shrubs are sorely overlooked in general for multiple wildlife species. Otherwise converting several acres of non-native cool season to NWSG with a high forb count.

Shameless plug for my latest blog post if you are so inclined!

Shrubs ... Maybe They Are The Unsung Hero

In the last blog I touched on the value of shrubs as a food source for White-tailed deer, I will continue on with the shrub theme this week. Dormant shrubs provide most of a deer's browse in the Winter months, especially in non-Ag areas. Shrubs also benefit other wildlife besides deer.Shrubs go...

www.turkeycreektrees.com

 

[Tangler]

40 Green Giant Arborvitae (thuja standishii- plicata) for Screening a road
2 chestnut crabapples (Morse Nursery)
2 Fuyu persimmons
75 northern white cedar (thuja occidentalis)
2 Deer magnet persimmon (Morse Nursery)
25 American plum
10 red osler dogwood
10 silky dogwood.