Apple Trees

[krazzydart]

A few things... I bet they are the "YELLOW DELICIOUS" ( Mine got eaten a lot!) I used Hair in a Nylon stocking, Ivory Soap Bars, ( drill hole through and put wire or string) But I found what works pretty good was my own Urine.... Yup Me and the Boys went in the orchid a couple years ago and later that night I was on the Deck and saw the deer coming up and they just stopped when they got about 20 or so yards from the trees! and turned and took off!! we did that a few times that spring till other stuff started turning green and I guess the deer went elsewhere for a snack... cause they soon stayed away .... now the trees are doing GREAT!!!! So go out and give them a bit of "Vitamin-P " .... LOL Good Luck

 

[bdw593]

Well got bout half of them done and ran out of fencing... Gotta get some more tomorrow... Took about 10 feet of wire to make one cage. Hopefully this works....

 

[bdw593]

A few things... I bet they are the "YELLOW DELICIOUS" ( Mine got eaten a lot!)

Well there are about 5 different varieties and evidentally the deer think they are ALL DELICIOUS.

 

[riptides]

Well got bout half of them done and ran out of fencing... Gotta get some more tomorrow... Took about 10 feet of wire to make one cage. Hopefully this works....

I see your problem.

Literally there is nothing else for them to eat. Wide open, and yummy apple trees.

I'd say the fence is your only option.

 

[Chuck52]

I went with a bigger circle so there was a bit more room for the tree to grow. About 5' diameter is what I use and even then the trees usually get into the wire before I figure they are big enough to stand some browsing.

Chuck

 

[Ford850]

I made the 5' fence circles for mine and it works ok. I use small wood stakes, if any. I keep the fence loosely clipped closed so I can remove them easily for pruning, grafting or mowing. My trees are in a area that I might just fence in completely and do away with the circles. The amount of fence used, and the hassle working around/through the circles is challenging at times. Mowing or trimming is difficult too. But the large circles of fence has worked 100%.

 

[MossRoad]

If you have a local newspaper (remember those things your parents used to read) you can ask them is you can have the end covers for the paper rolls. They are usually 4' diameter circles of brown, biodegradable cardboard with a 4-5" hole in the center. Then protect the roll during shipping. Place them around the base of your trees and it keeps weeds down for most of the year. Put your fence around it and stake it down. Works good. :thumbsup:

 

[homeinwestIL]

I've had the same trouble. I tried hanging Irish Spring soap in my garden that helped the first year but seemed to lose effectiveness each year. The sprays are good until a few rains wash them off -- you have to keep applying them. I did put up the 5' tall fence rings for a while which keeps the trees safe but also makes it difficult for pruning and keeping weeds down. I finally went with the ultimate solution which was to fence in the entire garden/orchard area with 8' tall fencing. I'm sure the bigger deer could clear the fence if sufficiently motivated, but they haven't yet. The fence doesn't keep out the smaller varmints like possums, raccoons and squirrels, but I started keeping my dog inside the fence once fruit starts coming on and she takes care of that. She's taken a liking to some of the fruits and vegetables herself, but doesn't eat any more than she deserves.

 

[bdw593]

I made the 5' fence circles for mine and it works ok.

I started out at 5' but it barely got around my small trees... I ended up going with 10 feet of fence and made them into circles. Wish I could go bigger but that price of fence is high.. 100' roll only covered 10 trees so I gotta go get another roll. At 87.00 a roll...

 

[MNBobcat]

I've got the ultimate answer. At least in terms of cheap, easy and supposed to work well.

Read about this on another forum.

Put up fence posts and then for your fence you string monofilament fishing line. Run two strands. One at about 1 foot above ground and again at about 3 feet.

Apparently the deer cannot see the fishing line. When it touches their body they freak out and go the other direction. They don't understand what is touching them.

Also, because they can't see the fishing line, they can't jump the fence -- they don't know where it is. You can tie some white flags on the line every so often. That will teach the deer where to stay away from.

 

[Chuck52]

My fence circles are 5' in diameter....about 15+ feet/circle. It does indeed use up a lot of fence, but I have been planting a few trees at a time for a few years now, so some of my circles have been recycled a couple times now.

I just got a zero turn mower that makes mowing around those circles a lot easier. My old rider would turn close enough, but it had corners on the deck that would snag the fence if I wasn't real careful. I almost ruined a couple trees when that happened and I didn't react fast enough.

The cardboard for mulch is a good idea and I have a shed full of boxes waiting to be used for just that purpose. I may have to check with the local paper to see if I can get some of those nice sounding cardboard circles. I usually just put together pieces to get a four foot or so coverage and then cover that with whatever cheap mulch I can find. The local city has free mulch and even used to have days when they would load it free for you, but I hear that's out of the budget this year. Nice solid cardboard circles would probably not even need holding down much, but the pieces I use have to be protected from the wind.

I still need to put down cardboard around the last seven trees I planted earlier this year. It's been so darn wet and misearble I haven't gotten to it. It is supposed to rain all day today and tomorrow, but I may just put on my boonie hat and get out there in the rain and get it done. At least there's no wind right now.

Chuck

 

[ayelvington]

Friend, the only sure-fire non-lethal way to keep deer back is a tall electric fence. I have a planting of over 100 trees, and I keep deer out with an 8' high-tensile electric fence.

second to that, you could put up t-posts and run deer netting between them.

I'm of the opinion that the soap, spray, whatever solutions are just an inneffective way to spend the price of a fence.

Al

YouTube - ayelvington's Channel

 

[ayelvington]

This is a good recommendation. The only think is that you have to periodically go out and rearrange the line so that the deer don't get comfortable with it

I've got the ultimate answer. At least in terms of cheap, easy and supposed to work well.

Read about this on another forum.

Put up fence posts and then for your fence you string monofilament fishing line. Run two strands. One at about 1 foot above ground and again at about 3 feet.

Apparently the deer cannot see the fishing line. When it touches their body they freak out and go the other direction. They don't understand what is touching them.

Also, because they can't see the fishing line, they can't jump the fence -- they don't know where it is. You can tie some white flags on the line every so often. That will teach the deer where to stay away from.

 

[bdw593]

Well I bought some fishing line today... I'm gonna try that on the last 10 trees and see how well it works... Already have the posts so 2.00 in fishing line or 100.00 in fence????. I'll let you all know as soon as I see results.... I think I'm gonna wrap it at random high to low.... It makes sense in theory...

 

[forgeblast]

You do want to put a good spray of round up around them to have bare ground. If you have voles in your area and the grass is high they will tunnel in and eat the roots to nothing. If its bare ground they are less likely to get at them. Plus it lets the preds get a shot at them.
http://extension.usu.edu/cache/files/uploads/meadowvoles.pdf

 

[Ford850]

I started out at 5' but it barely got around my small trees... I ended up going with 10 feet of fence and made them into circles. Wish I could go bigger but that price of fence is high.. 100' roll only covered 10 trees so I gotta go get another roll. At 87.00 a roll...

I meant 5' diameters approximately. I use about 15' of fence per tree.

 

[rogerius]

I meant 5' diameters approximately. I use about 15' of fence per tree.

Ouch... I'm planning to plant 40 apples next weekend, and by following this tread I have to increase the budget with another 700$ for a fence. I didn't think at deers at all.

Questions for you guys: what is the optimal distance between rows and trees for an apple orchard?
Thanks

 

[bdw593]

Ouch... I'm planning to plant 40 apples next weekend, and by following this tread I have to increase the budget with another 700$ for a fence. I didn't think at deers at all.

Questions for you guys: what is the optimal distance between rows and trees for an apple orchard?
Thanks

Depends on weather they are dwarf, semi, or standard. I have mostly standards so I planted mine in a 20' grid.

I wanted semi dwarf but got a deal on standards. After having the deer issues I don't think I would ever consider dwarf unless I had the orchard completely fenced in.

 

[forgeblast]

Ive seen them 15-20'. also plan for what your going to be driving between them.

 

[bdw593]

Well..... So far so good... The fencing is working and surprisingly enough the fishing line is working as well. It dint even look like the deer have tried to get into it. Will keep you posted and get some pics hopefully tomorrow..