So give me your bare root stock apple tree planting tips. What type of fencing do you use and how big of a diameter do you fence off? Do you still wrap the trunk even if it is fenced off? What type of fertilizer do you use if any? Do you stake the tree on two sides? I am putting in 10 5-7' apple trees here this spring and are looking for some good tips. Thanks.
soak the roots in water over night. Where i got my trees from the lady gave me some gel Root Stimulator stuff to put in a bucket to soak the roots in. Fencing-attached here is a few pictures to give you a idea what I do for protecting the trees. . I got everything at Menards. check out here=Native Habitat/Forest Management - QDMA Forums Tons of good info ^
Also with that tree protector tube thing on I can spray round up around the base. I am careful, but it saves on my weed wacking time. On QDMA link there, some guys put pea gravel down. You can also get away with 3 posts instead of 4. Fertilizer- where I got my trees the lady gave me two little cubes to put in the ground. I might experiment with pounding a metal rod into the ground around the "drip line" or a big long one inch drill bit to drill some holes and dump some 10-10-10 fertilizer down the hole. Would be alot of trees I could fertilize with a 15$ 50lb bag of 10-10-10. What I did too is mix in some dirt from my garden which has a perfect Ph and is better then what I was digging into. Also put a little lime too in the hole. I planted a bare root tree right next to a apple tree that died that i cut down two years ago. So far the bare root tree took. We will see how it does this year. And welcome to the addiction, apple tree planting is fun.
I followed the advice below that was provided by PastorvAndrew. have planted somewhere around 75 apple and pear tree's, a dozen so saw tooth oaks. and 6 persimmon's A few things to consider 1. long term investment- an orchard isn't like a food plot it will take five years to begin producing for you. However in my case i said for ten years, I want to plant an orchard and didn't till spring 2009. lost ten years just to procrastination, if you want to do it, put together a plan and go for it, you will be amazed at what happens in five years. 2. the expense- it is considerably more than just purchasing tree's. (have learned this the hard way!) you can basically take the cost of the tree up front and double it. because you will need to protect the tree's with tree tubes or fencing, I recommend 5 or even six foot tree tubes and steel stakes! 3. the plus side- if this is your own family ground you, your children, there children and the generations to come will reap the benefits of your time! There is nothing like that! When my kids start hunting in a few years it will be right in the orchard, they will kill deer right in the orchard they helped to plant and tend as young children! you will be creating a family history of sorts. now for a few tips, 1.buy bear root seedlings- have everything there and readdy to go when they arive so you can get them in the ground quickly! 2. don't buy the biggest and most expensive seedlings. look for the 2 foot range. here is why, when you first plant them there will be shock, the less buds they have to support the more root growth, the more root growth early, the bigger the top will get in the long run! 3. buy tree tubes- they are a huge upside, they drastically increase your growing season, and protect the seedling from deer browse. I used and highly recommend these in five or six footers Grow Tubes For Trees 4. use a metal stake to hold the tube in place- if you don't the bucks will come in and rub the tubes and break off the stakes. I kid you not! I have 2 in oak stakes and every fall some stinkin mature buck decides to tangle with one and breaks them off. as they do I have to replace them with steel stakes. 5. get some composted manure to put around each seedling when you plant it. this will give the new roots a perfect growing environment for year 1. (don't fertilize in year one, it will do more damage than good) 6. get a variety of tree's, look for some apples that drop in mid sept. some that drop in mid october and some that drop in early nov. this will have fruit on the ground for a majority of hunting season. I would consider some of the goldrush , jonagold, granny smith and enterprise apple tree seedlings. here is a link to a great price on tree's http://www.summerstonenursery.com/Ca...bing_yahoo&p=1 7. get some mulch to put around tree tubes to keep weed competition out. give the majority of rain water that comes to seedling, critical for year one! So here is how I would do it. step by step. (assuming I have all the supplies ready to go and tree's are at my house. 1. drive in fence post, i do this first so it won't distrube tree roots once tree is planted. 2. dig the hole- dig it twice as big as the roots 3. place tree in the hole gently fill in around roots with the composted manure 4. water it in- this will set dirt up to the roots and removes any air pockets around the roots. 5. Install tube over the tree and zip tie to the post 6. mulch the tree in with a few inches of wood chips, 3 ft total diameter of tube. 7. spray weed killer on any competitive weeds that are in a 6 ft diameter around the tree tube. 8. water periodically and watch for any un foreseen problems. Hope this is helpful, good luck and enjoy yourself.
If you measure fencing out at 12 feet. Then take two steel post. Measurement from trunk of tree at 2 ft. Drive a post on each side of the tree at 2 feet. So that means between posts there's 4 feet with the tree in the middle. The 12 ft of cage will.fit around the post and join perfectly together making a nice circle look. Remember to always mulch around the tree. Helps keep moisture on the roots. Tyler Rector BHOD prostaff
nope. just as you see it is how I got it. I use them white tree tube things. I will try this year getting some fine screen and stapling it like I seen on qdma somewhere. One apple tree i found I just fenced off so deer couldnt get at the branches, but left the base uncovered. Rabbits found it and knawed on it, but didnt kill the tree.
