Planting your tree

Quick answer: For Bareroot (shipped-tree customers) a hole, soil removed 3′ diam. x 1′ deep, put back in with a lot of water- like a soil “soup” gently filling all the air voids, add compost to mulch the surface.

Long Answer:

Now that you will be planting your new trees, you should take a few moments to consider how you will plant them so they are provided with the best possible conditions for their first year of growth. A little effort now will be rewarded later with fine healthy trees.

Site Selection and Ground Preparation

When selecting a site to plant your new trees consider the spacing required between trees. Strongest trees are “Seedlings” set typically 30×30′, Antonovka apple and Pyrus Communis depending on varietal vigor, but manageable at 10′; next are “Standards”, Bud 118, Podlatki 18(p18), pear-Old Home x Farmingdale 97 and these too can be managed at 10′ though 15-20 feet is more typical.

Trees grafted on stronger semi-dwarf rootstocks apples-EMLA 7, G890, EMLA 106, 111; pears OHxF333 are still free-standing and 8-15′ spacing is typical

Weaker free-standing “Semidwarf” (Mark, M26, G969 and Supporter 4) can be managed at 3 to 8 feet apart.

The following require permanent staking to support the tree. “Dwarf” (EMLA 9, T337, bud9, bud10, G11,G41, G 202, G210, G935, nic 29, pajam2) trees can be planted 2 to 6 feet apart.

Mini-Dwarf (EMLA 27, p22, p2) as close as 18″.

The site should receive 6 to 8 hours of sunlight daily. A site that is mostly shaded will produce thin, weak trees. Be sure the soil is well-drained. Glacial compaction is common here and in most cases planting on a mound is necessary.

Crimson Crisp 2016

If you have purchased several trees to plant in a small orchard, plow or till the orchard mixing in ten pounds limestone and 1/2 yard manure per 100 square feet. Adding rock powders for mineral health at this time is generally a good idea. Adding 10# each per 100 s.f.: Rock phosphate, granite dust, greensand, azomite-Steubers in Snohomish have all these. After planting keep the small tree free of grass and weeds and plant a guild of beneficial plants such as clover, comfrey, horseradish, taprooted umbels like carrots, parsnip, parsley, dill-when these flower they are highly attractive to ‘good’ bugs. A 3 to 4 foot wide area cleared of competing weeds (grass is most competitive) around each tree will ensure vigor.

If planting just a few trees, prepare your site a few weeks (to a few years) before planting if possible by spreading three pounds of limestone and two pounds of bonemeal over the site for each tree. Sheet-mulch (cardboard/ newspaper covered with compost overtop) for easy prep.

Planting Your Trees

For each tree, dig a hole 2 feet wide and 12-18 inches deep. The best transplanting method is to place the excavated soil into a wheelbarrow and then sprinkle one cup each of limestone and bonemeal over this soil. Use your shovel to thoroughly mix the lime and bonemeal into the soil in the wheelbarrow. Partially refill the hole with enough of the mixed soil to bring the tree up to the proper planting depth. A ‘cone shape’ mound 6-8″ high helps spread the roots. The tree should be planted so that the graft union is at least 2 to 4 inches above the final soil line.

Remove the tree from its pot and gently shake off most of the soil from the roots, making it ‘bareroot’ – this applies to shipped, ‘bareroot’ trees as well. Place the tree in the hole, gently spreading the roots over the bottom of the hole/ soil cone. Refill the hole with the remaining soil, adding plenty of water as you refill. Making a soil “soup” is recommended to gently fill all the voids. A small amount of well-rotted compost can be added to the hole if available.

Mulch your trees after planting applying a 4-6 inch thick layer of wood chips, leaf mulch, or similar weed-free material in a ring around each tree. Keep the mulch pulled a few inches away from the base of the tree to discourage mice and voles from gnawing on the lower trunk. Protect trunk!-see below. Add more mulch over time as it decomposes. Make a diligent effort to suppress weeds and grasses from becoming established the first few years.

It is also important to provide sturdy stakes for dwarf trees. A metal or wooden pole buried two feet in the ground will work very well as a supporting stake. Bamboo will hold up trees for years. Festooning is weaving tree branches and works beautifully when trees are planted in a curved row or a circle, think firepit.

Protection from Animals

As mentioned, mice and voles can injure young trees, they are not minor pests and compare to the damage inflicted by rabbits and deer. A deer or rabbit can destroy a tree in a matter of seconds, so certain precautions should be taken if you live in an area with healthy populations of these creatures.

Rabbits like to chew tender bark and can easily girdle a tree with their feeding. An easy preventative measure is to enclose the lower 18 inches of the tree in a small wire cage of hardware cloth, screen wire, or fencing material. Another possibility is the use of plastic corrugated drain pipe, cut into 18 inch lengths, then cut up the length of one side. The pipe can then be easily spread open and slipped around the lower part of the tree. Hardware cloth is best below ground-where mice can feed.

For deer control, fencing is required. For orchard plantings, the best option is to erect an eight foot high fence around the entire orchard. A combination of field fencing and barbed wire works quite well. This can be labor intensive, but is the only method to prevent deer from entering the orchard.

For individual tree planting, a four to five foot high woven wire fence can successfully deter deer from munching on the tree. Wrap the fencing six to eight foot diameter around the tree and anchor well to the ground >3 stakes.

Deterrents such as soap or human hair and dryer napkins(with odor) hung in the trees can have moderate success but require constant renewal. Also, the deer and rabbits can become accustomed to the odor. Strong fencing combined with habitat for predators should provide your young trees with the best animal protection possible. For Skipley Farm we depend on snakes weasel, (brush, water, tall weeds), coyote, owls, trees and posts for birds of prey.

First Year Pruning

The first spring after transplanting, when your trees have put on three to six inches of new growth, select one strong green shoot at the top of the tree to be the new central leader. Remove all new shoots for 4 to 5 inches immediately below this new leader. Removal of this growth reduces competition with the new central leader and encourages the development of new shoots in a zone 6 to 12 inches below the cut tip of the tree. These new shoots will develop into the tree’s first lateral branches, or scaffold limbs.

In addition, remove any growth on the lower eighteen inches of the trunk. Your tree should now have one terminal shoot to form a new central leader, an eight-inch zone of new shoots to form the first scaffold branches, and an 18 to 22-inch area on the lower part of the tree cleared of new growth.

When the first whorl of scaffold branches is 4 to 8 inches long, select 3 to 5 of the best looking branches to be the first permanent scaffold. Spread them to a 70 to 80 degree angle using toothpicks or clothespins. This will encourage wide crotch angles on the branches making them much less susceptible to breakage later on in the tree’s life when it begins to bear fruit. Continue to keep the lower 18 to 22 inches of the trunk free of shoots and buds.

Liming and Fertilizing

The soil pH (level of acidity) for apples should be in the range of 6.0 to 6.5. Most soils are far too acidic for good growth and must be limed to achieve the proper pH level. Once your trees are established, applications of lime every 2 to 3 years will maintain the correct soil acidity. For young trees, one pound of lime applied in a broad ring around the tree will be sufficient. Spread the lime out from the trunk to just beyond the drip line of the limbs. Increase the lime applications as the tree matures up to a maximum of 5 pounds for a mature bearing-age tree.

In some areas the soil will already be quite basic in nature ( pH 7.0 or higher), such that the addition of limestone will be counterproductive. Regions rich with natural underlying limestone are such an example. In these soil types the incorporation of elemental sulfur will assist in lowering the pH to a range suitable for growing apple trees. The addition of aluminum sulfate can also be used to lower soil pH but must be used with discretion to avoid buildup of aluminum to toxic levels. Please consult your county agricultural extension agent for more information.

Fertilize your apple trees three times a year beginning in March, again in early June, and finally in July. (In colder agricultural zones with shorter growing seasons fertilize your trees twice a year – April and June.) Do not fertilize in late autumn as this will stimulate tender, late season growth which could be injured by winter’s cold. When selecting a fertilizer, be sure it is a balanced type (8-8-8). The general rule-of-thumb is to apply one pound of fertilizer per year of age of your tree up to a maximum of 5 pounds for a mature tree. Skipley Farm uses chicken manure-about 5#/tree. As with the lime applications, spread the fertilizer out to the drip line.

If nutrition levels and soil pH are correct, then you should expect your young trees to produce 16-24″ of new growth per year. If the rate of growth is significantly less than this, collect a soil sample for analysis and amend the soil as necessary according to recommendations. Soil sample boxes and information on how to collect samples are usually available free of charge from your local county extension agent.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact us. Gil Schieber 206-679-6576