Planting Apple Trees

[DT86]

A local nursery is winding down for the year and possibly not returning in the spring so they had everything on sale. I asked if they would make deal on a large purchase of 5 gallon fruit trees, mostly Yellow Delicious apple. They sold me 24 five gallon fruit trees for $300, which would normally retail for over $700!

We have several fenced areas the cattle do not have access to and I've been busy clearing out places for them to live. I have planted bare root trees before with mixed results and want to get this right. So I had a few questions / thoughts about planting in no particular order. Please share your thoughts and experiences.

1) Is a 12" auger a good idea for planting them or would they do better if I loosened out a bigger hole? We have pretty good top soil and Fredrick Clay.

2)How far apart should I plant them, 10'? 15'? Space is not an issue.

3) I was thinking about putting some composted mulch on top of and maybe under the root ball.

4) One of the areas we want to plant about 10 of them is near a creek, where beavers are known to hang out. Would making a cage out of 1/2" chicken wire protect them from beavers?

5) I've been keeping them watered is there anything else to do or worry about before planting them? We have some freezing temps coming soon, should that concern me before I get them planted?

6) I know potted plants can become root bound and you need to loosen them before planting or transplanting. Is this something I need to worry about doing?

7) Some are over 6' tall, the smallest two or three are about 4 1/2', would it be a good idea to stake them upright?

Surely I've missed something but that's all for now. Let me know what you all think.

 

[RalphVa]

A 12" auger isn't big enough. For a 5 gallon plant, you need at least about a 15 gallon hole (wide but no deeper than they're growing now in pots or no deeper than the root flare or where they were spliced together). Use plenty of water when planting. After this, you probably won't need to water them until summer or late spring, then only 1 gallon/wk during dry spells the first year. No amendments, NOTHING. When planting, loosen the roots around the outside of the ball by teasing or digging some of them out. Don't stake them. Place them AT LEAST about 20' apart. You'll need to get in between them when they're big to prune them, maybe even 30'. You need to cage them against beavers; guess the chicken wire will do; my neighbor put fairly heavy cages around his down along the creek; I lost a willow to beaver when I didn't cage it. On any others, it's a good idea to put at least some plastic mesh around the trunks, to keep hooved rats, aka deer, from rubbing their antlers on them. Any kind of cage will do for this, but the simplest is just some plastic mesh.

Ralph

 

[jeff9366]

They sold me 24 five gallon fruit trees for $300.


Is a 12" auger a good idea for planting them or would they do better if I loosened out a bigger hole? We have pretty good top soil and Fredrick Clay.

A <$400 clamp-on Bucket Spade works really well for planting trees.

LINK:

Tractor and Skidsteer bucket spade shovel

 

[forgeblast]

Growing Apples in the Home Orchard, HYG-1401-00 is a pretty good guide for planting. It talks about soaking the roots and the proper depth.

I would be worrying about the deer and rabbits the hardware cloth will protect against the rabbits but not the deer. Fencing would be a must in my area. I have a 6' high fence with two strands of e'fence and then each tree has 2' of 1/2'' hardware cloth around the base. I have used 2x4x8's I ripped in half as stakes, but they also sell fiberglass poles.

 

[tony Cecil]

We have some very mature apple trees near our controlled pond...a couple of years ago, some beaver moved in and the reason was the apples...cut down a couple of other trees and plugged the dam up by moving a large quantity of mud from the bottom of the lake at night, which I didn't observe or even know about. The next week was spent by me and a couple of guys trying to unplug the drain pipe, which was buried four feet under the mud. They'd didn't like the height of the water and wanted a foot higher.....never messed with the apple trees though. Tony. Ps this is up in N C

 

[rd_macgregor]

Are these full-size trees, dwarf or semi-dwarf. Planting distance for full-size needs to be at least twice what it would be for a dwarfing variety.
Hardware cloth will deter beavers, but you might still get mice girdling the trees if there is any snow cover around the trunks. I don't know if winters are hard enough where you are for that to happen, though. Same thing with deer, which might prune your trees a bit, or cause serious damage in a harsh winter.
I have a 15" bit for my hydraulic auger and would consider that just about right for the job you are contemplating. You might be OK to top-dress with compost/mulch, but I'd agree its best to just use the original hole dirt to backfill the trees.
You'll have a nice little orchard when you are done (of course, there is still a lot of work to keep it producing well and with good quality fruit!).

 

[sixdogs]

I've planted a lot of fruit--and other-- trees over the years and this is the way I have had the best results.

For the first year, I plant them in buckets and keep them close to the house where I can water and fertilize them and don't have to stake them. This way they get a great start with no stress.

In September of that year when the ground is dry I dig the holes bigger than I should and plant where I want them. Staking is really not needed because the roots are established and the tree is much stronger. The dry dirt fills around the root ball firmly and I water before I back fill. The cooler weather of the fall is very conducive to tree starts.

For the next two years I water frequently. I drill a 3/16" hole in the bottom--or at the side near the bottom--of a five gallon bucket, fill with water and let it run out slowly. Makes it painless and the water goes in the tree and not as runoff. We have probably done 600 trees like this and only lost a couple. Before that I would lose many more.

 

[jeff9366]

For the next two years I water frequently. I drill a 3/16" hole in the bottom--or at the side near the bottom--of a five gallon bucket, fill with water and let it run out slowly. Makes it painless and the water goes in the tree and not as runoff.

SIXDOGS: My admiration increases with every post you make. THIS DUMMY has been hauling around water in five gallon plastic buckets, then slowly pouring water from the buckets into earth dams around recently planted native trees. Said dams wash out and require repair after every rain.

No more.

YOU ARE A GENIUS !

 

[sixdogs]

Yeah, well my wife would argue the point. Try the idea below for transporting water without a spaghetti mess of hoses. Get a plastic barrel, drill a hole at the bottom and insert a plastic valve with a water hose adaptor. Get a 12 ft length of hose and that's 11 five gallon buckets. More buckets for big tractors, one for small tractors.

Lift loader to get the last of the water out, don't turn the tractor with the bucket up with bucket in air or you could flip and no kids or dogs nearby. Works like a champ. Oh, you need long arms and a pair of pliers to get the spigot in. A 5' 10" to 6' thin woman with thin arms works best. Tie a string to the pliers.

 

[DT86]

Thank you each for the suggestions! :thumbsup: :drink:

Thank you forgeblast for the link, I'll be sure to check it out tonight.

So here is the plan...

The majority of them are full size or semi dwarf, will check the tags tomorrow. 2 or 3 they called "patio size" which are dwarf?? :confused3: Unless something changes we'll plant those close to home and the rest 30' apart on the farm.

A 12" auger is the largest I have access to free of charge but can rent a 24" with SSQA power head for $75/day. Is that big enough?

We will loosen the roots, back fill with the top soil, layer the top with composted mulch, being careful not to cover the splice, and water thoroughly.

You all really got me worried about the deer eating them or rubbing on them! We are not over populated with deer so I'm not sure how much pressure they'll put on the trees. They leave my hard woods alone. What if I make tubular cages 2-3' across out of 6x6 woven wire (I have several partial rolls left over from fencing jobs) and put the chicken wire around the bottom?

Sixdogs, for watering I have a slow release plan similar to yours using 1 1/2" pvc capped off on the bottom with small holes drilled in one side, buried with each root ball and about a foot sticking up above the ground.

I don't really have a good place to keep them in buckets for a year.

Thanks again and feel free to correct me if this plan sounds wrong or stupid!