Planting orchards

[ATbuckhunter]

Who here has planted small orchards or fruit trees for deer?

How many acres did you plant?

Did you plant the same type of fruit or different kinds?

Is it okay to plant different types of fruit in the same orchard (apples,pears,plums,peach,persimmon maybe figs)?

I know that it will take at least a few years to start producing but its worth it.

[G-Man]

It depends how big you want to go size wise, i have several planted, most fruit trees require cross pollination. So 2 or more types of apples for example are needed. Of couse you want early/ late/ mid producers. I have apples, pears, plums together, black knot is the bane of cherry and plums. Unless you really are goinng to keep up with treatments look for desiese resistant varieties and buy the largest stock you can 1in or larger, protect them with wraps/tubes from rodents and deer rubbing their horns. 3-5 years you will see production.

[ATbuckhunter]

I am looking to plant somewhere in the area of 20 trees. I am thinking of planting multiple types of apples, plums, pears, peaches, a couple persimmons and maybe chestnuts. Its a lot to plant but im hoping for big returns.

[G-Man]

chestnuts are very good i use dunstan chestnuts, peaches won't grow by me too cold. persimmions i've never tried but i belive i would be too cold as well. makes sure what you plant will be tollerant to temps it will be exposed to.national arbor association has a chart. 20 tress is a good number, i wouldn't go lower than 5 in an area for pollinating purposes. i have several orchards planted, chestnut and apple mostly. one is 12 acres, a little big for most people, ansd the smallest s a half acre 8 trees,m and several existing apples there as well.

[growalot]

I have reliance peach and they grow great...the persimmons are both native and Meader persimmon...which is a cold hardy self pollinating one....planted with enough moisture. wind break, and sun they do fine...I love the mulberry...hazel nuts and I even grow Kiwi ...this is in the finger lake hills 1900+ ft and west/north facing slope...it's all in how you plant them...I had Paw Paw as well...until the deer ate them..Things to watch for ...blk knot...fire blight and boers....which call for proper spraying right from the get go...This is why I really prefer to cultivate the wild fruit trees on our place....they just don't have the problems hybrids seem to

(sp)

Edited March 12, 2013 by growalot

[bbrummon]

I don't have it with me right now but i have an apple ripening chart. You don't want to pick varieties that will have all falling of the trees two weeks after archery opens. I'll look for it tonight and post it.

We have a lot of wild apple trees growing at our camp. When we find a young one we top them and we have some trees we pull sions from and do some grafting. It's fun and cheap.

Don't forget meader persimmions for gun season.

[Geno C]

chestnuts are very good i use dunstan chestnuts, peaches won't grow by me too cold. persimmions i've never tried but i belive i would be too cold as well. makes sure what you plant will be tollerant to temps it will be exposed to.national arbor association has a chart. 20 tress is a good number, i wouldn't go lower than 5 in an area for pollinating purposes. i have several orchards planted, chestnut and apple mostly. one is 12 acres, a little big for most people, ansd the smallest s a half acre 8 trees,m and several existing apples there as well.

i orderd 6 persimmons that were rated for zone 5 and up. ill give em a try, they should be here end of this month

[bbrummon]

i orderd 6 persimmons that were rated for zone 5 and up. ill give em a try, they should be here end of this month

I got mine from Meader Persimmioms from Millers in Canandaigua. I think they grow them there.

[G-Man]

My area drops into zone 4 every winter...-20 several nights in a row, had some hardy peaches grow for a while but they freeze out, fingerlakes are much warmer than i am, water keeps things much warmer if its nearby. its very dissapointing to have 5-7 years of growth killed in 1 winter... i'lll stick with what works by me.

[Five Seasons]

I'm currently trying to bring an old mature orchard back to life. On 5 acres I have probably 15 apple trees. 2 of the mature are still producing fruit. They're very high and the deer eat them as they drop. 3 are newer plants and harvestable for human consumption and I plan to do that after they're sprayed. The rest are shaded by newer trees and hampered by crowding and dead branches. I started the project last weekend. And have 4 of the mature tress trimmed and have cleared some surrounding trees for light. I don't know how well they will come back, and 2 of them had live branches but hollowed out trunks. I'm really just hoping they produce some fruit, even if it's not up to human standards. On 2 other trees, I've topped them and am focusing on some shoots. Hoping in 2 or 3 years they'll fruit. I'm not investing a ton of time this spring as I want to see how well the trimmed trees recover before I start on the rest. the fruiting trees last year were magnets some I'm really crossing my fingers. If it fails, I've still cleared out some space for vegetation and bedding. Plus some extra firewood.

I'd like to add 4 more trees in an open spot as well. Thinking plum, peach and pear.

Edited March 12, 2013 by Belo

[Geno C]

My area drops into zone 4 every winter...-20 several nights in a row, had some hardy peaches grow for a while but they freeze out, fingerlakes are much warmer than i am, water keeps things much warmer if its nearby. its very dissapointing to have 5-7 years of growth killed in 1 winter... i'lll stick with what works by me.

oh ok, i thought for the most part coldest zone up there was a 5... yeah i dont blame you, id be mad too

[Gthphtm]

Remember this is the time to prune the trees if you didn't already.

[ATbuckhunter]

Thanks for all the advise guys! I have access to all farm trees except for plum(from Europe in the old country) and the peaches in my back yard. Would you guys say it is better to grow some from seed to make a hardier tree? Most of the apple,pears and peach trees will be the clippings from existing trees.

[bbrummon]

Thanks for all the advise guys! I have access to all farm trees except for plum(from Europe in the old country) and the peaches in my back yard. Would you guys say it is better to grow some from seed to make a hardier tree? Most of the apple,pears and peach trees will be the clippings from existing trees.

You never know what you will get when you grow from a seed. You may even get a tree that woun't bear any fruit at all. With that said you could start a tree from a seed, top it when it's a few years old and graft on a known producer. We do that with young wild apple trees we find growing at camp. If you have never grafted check out the fruitewise series on youtube.

Bob

[Five Seasons]

Thanks for all the advise guys! I have access to all farm trees except for plum(from Europe in the old country) and the peaches in my back yard. Would you guys say it is better to grow some from seed to make a hardier tree? Most of the apple,pears and peach trees will be the clippings from existing trees.

you might be waiting a while too. Problem with trees is that they really take time to develop. A guy I know planted a bunch of oak. Going to be his kid that will reap the rewords of those trees, and not him. haha.

[Geno C]

to bad apple werent like my fig tree... i have an italian guy i work with from brooklyn who gave me a 6" cutting from his tree that started out as a 6" branch from italy. i made about 10 figs the following season which was 1 year after planting. this was about 3 years ago and now the tree is about 6 feet and makes a bunch of figs. once i see she starts budding and the weather warms im going to cut some branches and plant them...

[bbrummon]

you might be waiting a while too. Problem with trees is that they really take time to develop. A guy I know planted a bunch of oak. Going to be his kid that will reap the rewords of those trees, and not him. haha.

 

Depends on the kind of oaks. Mose take 20 years to make their 1st acron. 20 years ago I stumbled accorss some english oaks. They grow fast and start producing in about 8 years. The ones I started 20years agoe are as tall as a 2 story house. I have one that's about 10 years in my front yard and it;s about 15ft high.Bob

[ATbuckhunter]

to bad apple werent like my fig tree... i have an italian guy i work with from brooklyn who gave me a 6" cutting from his tree that started out as a 6" branch from italy. i made about 10 figs the following season which was 1 year after planting. this was about 3 years ago and now the tree is about 6 feet and makes a bunch of figs. once i see she starts budding and the weather warms im going to cut some branches and plant them...

I have 6 fig tees in my back yard and all are about 15 feet with one about 20 ft after 4 years. They all have multiple stems and make way more figs than my family can eat. A lot of people from the balkans and Italy have figs in their back yards too lol. Its too bad that they dont grow that fast back where in the old country.  

[Fantail]

I have an area that gets good sun, plenty of room for about 1/2 dozen trees. 

The problem is, I think, it is low ground and gets very wet. Not like a swamp & you can get in there with good boots, but there are cat-tails present.

[growalot]

My persimmon are in very moist/wet areas...they grow very well there...all the wild apples are also in wet areas...don't know what they are but some are reds and some yellows...the yellows hold through to gun season the reds vary but drop before or around mid Oct

[Geno C]

I have 6 fig tees in my back yard and all are about 15 feet with one about 20 ft after 4 years. They all have multiple stems and make way more figs than my family can eat. A lot of people from the balkans and Italy have figs in their back yards too lol. Its too bad that they dont grow that fast back where in the old country.  

i still have mine in a big pot, it should be in the ground by now. if it was in the ground this tree would be double the size. i love figs lol

[growalot]

We have several streams on one part of the property...the deer love that area due to the witch hazel...cherry birch... redoak and beech that grow there...not to mention the abundant fern...I watched deer yesterday digging through the snow at the base of a tree...thought they were eating the carpet moss...but it was fern frond they came up with....

[Five Seasons]

sort of scared that i did a bunch of fruit tree pruning the last 2 weekends and now we're going to get some ice...

 

anyhow, not very knowledgeable with figs. Are they easy to grow and maintain? how long will a fresh plant take to produce fruit?

[ATbuckhunter]

sort of scared that i did a bunch of fruit tree pruning the last 2 weekends and now we're going to get some ice...

 

anyhow, not very knowledgeable with figs. Are they easy to grow and maintain? how long will a fresh plant take to produce fruit?

I am pretty knowledgeable when it comes to figs. I come from an area that is very mountainous and the mountains are mainly rock. Fig trees grow over there quite easily even with the hot temps and little rain. They can grow very quickly and produce very quickly over here in America. I have 6 and i had one producing the year I planted it and the latest to produce was 3 years. They don't require much maintenance except for a little pruning in early spring and covering them sometimes in the spring. Figs a very hardy and produce twice a year most of the time but they are very soft wood so you do have to be careful. The only thing I did was cover the figs with insulation and a garbage bag for the first couple winters. I do take very good care of my trees though. I like to take grass clipping and spread it around the trees so they can some extra nutrients. I would also water them every day in the first year to give them a boost for the next year. If you need any more help...just ask. 

Edited March 18, 2013 by ATbuckhunter

[Five Seasons]

thanks for the good info. I might have to plant a few. I'm assuming they prefer as much sun as possible like most fruit trees?