What am I looking at for cost per tree and what kind do you suggest? What kind of tree is going to have the fastest production after planting?
Bare root is the best bargin, cost depends on location and variety. Plant at least 1 other tree same variety. Save the tags off the trees so you know what you have planted for future refrence. The deer will eat the trees you plant so put up a fence around the trees. Your local nursery will have the info as far as what varieties work best in your area.
Being from IL check into pear trees, you are far enough south. More fruit than apples and deer love them more than white oak acorns.
If you want to drop $90 per tree plus shipping check out Fast-Growing-Trees, for $180 you could have 2 Kieffer pear trees bearing fruit in 1-2 years.
You can buy antonovka grafting whips-10 for 25$. They will be young seed grown trees, exceptionally hardy, and should yield good fruit in about 5 years. Or you can order bare root for 25-50$ per tree. I like fedco, tons of rare and heirloom apples, mostly from the northeast. Pears are also great, and the deer do seem to search them out over apples at times.
Hmmm I never really thought about pear trees, but it makes sense. My parents have one in their yard, and the deer love them almost as much as my dad does! I'm mainly trying add an extra attractant to my small plots. I'll definitely be looking into this and the budget needed a little more. Maybe a little bit of both with apple and pears on the outside edge of the plots. Once you get a little taste of habitat improvement it just makes you want property that you can have full range with to transform how you see fit. Maybe one day...
Are you just looking for small trees or it doesn't matter? I was looking in to honey locust trees. They make a bean like pod that stays on until winter and then they fall. I have seen many deer eating these. Apple trees for the fall and honey locust trees for winter. Just a thought.
Apple trees are much harder to grow than pear trees. The Trophy pear (bare rooted 6') will have fruit in one year. In fact it will have so many big pears it will break limbs the first few years. Do not know if it will grow in your area.
PM Brad (screen name is BJE80), he just planted some this past year and I'm sure he could provide you with some details on the cost and prep work.
Apple trees take a while to fruit. Like others have said pears fruit faster. I planted a 3 ft Bartlett bear and some apples trees of he same size. The barlett pear started fruiting in 3 years. The apples have not even thought about fruiting yet.. About 15 to 20 per tree unless you buy in bulk.
Apple trees are a good investment and there are ways to get around the waiting 10 years for fruit problem. First off, you can buy a crab apple hybrid root stock tree in a semi drawf version that will fruit much faster than a standard tree. I would suggest 5 trees together per location. You would plant some that fruit earlier in the season and some that hold apples all the way till December or even January. That way your entire hunting season is covered. Two places I would call is: Wolfraths Nursery - Talk to Bob. Fruit Trees- Deer Candy Trees Wallace Woodstock: Fruit Trees for sale Feel free to ask more questions and I can try and help.
Biggest thing is apple trees need lots of sun. 10 hours a day at least is preferred. So putting them around small plots with mature trees can be tricky to get enough sun. If you have soils that drain quickly you may have to water that first year depending on the weather.
I think the first year I may try a couple pears and see how they do. I figure the best place to put them, would be on the north edge of the plot to receive the most sunlight?
Correct. North side is almost always the best. Some people even put them right in the plot and plant around them.
As I sat over my current plot this morning, and my future plot this afternoon, I tried mapping out the possible design if I end up going down this road. With the current plot, I think I may just open up the north edge a bit more, and plant there. The 2nd location is a spot I've always been a little dicey on plotting in, given the brushy, thick nature of it. However the back SE corner get very little deer activity and is about a 1/4 of an acre. The remaining cover is a mix of briars, grasses, and small trees. There are some oaks starting to take hold, but the rest don't offer much benefit to a whitetail, so I could hinge them strategically. The rest of the cover could be left alone. My thinking was to start with a few fruit trees on the North side and run them down the edge Southwest. This is likely where the deer would enter the area from, and in the future would help screen it a little. If I decide I don't like this area for a normal plot, I can always turn it into a little switchgrass stand to return some cover, or plant some more fruit trees....however I really feel like this tucked away location is the perfect spot to see some awesome whitetail activity if done right.
keep in mind, apple trees are very hard to grow around deer. they browse the limbs off and LOVE to rub them. most likely you WILL NEED to fence them off heavily. i spent 8 years trying to get mine going and have now given up.
Bought 6 2yr old apple trees from Grandpas orchard in MI. They have rootstock trees at GREAT prices. I got 3 BUD118 and 3 M111 for roughly $20 a tree shipped. Def worth checking out and they have GREAT customer service. They also give you free tree wraps to keep them protected. Apple--- All Varieties from Grandpa's Orchard
You aren't seriously considering planting thorny locust are you? Yes, the deer will eat the pods, but the trees are terrible. The thorns are absolutely insane. I have 40 acres with about 20 acres of timber just loaded with them. I am actually selectively harvesting them. Every year I plan on killing a few by girdling them and killing them with Tordon. Letting them stand for a few years so the freaking thorns will rot off before I fell the tree for firewood. I HATE them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
