Planting trees

[Benn Gleck]

Ok so my better half and I spent last weekend at the BOL planting trees, 35 in all. Most were seedlings that I get cheap from my county so not that much work.

We did however plant some large fruit trees. We added two more apple trees to the orchard and replaced a cherry tree that died.

Most of the seedlings were northern pecan and sugar maples with a few persimmon thrown in to hopefully attract deer in the future. I know the apple trees attract deer already, unfortunately. :)

We have another 20 norway spruce to plant that will someday be a windbreak and a privacy screen from our nearest neighbors a half mile away.

We'd like to add fruit and or nut trees every year. Anybody else planting trees this year?

[rockriver]

i'm impressed.
most of the trees we have planted have been for food production.
i figure if i'm eating dried beans and rice, but can finish the meal with
some figs, apples or pears then the whole meal (and my attitude) will be improved!!
maybe health will be improved too!
rr

[motesjm]

We planted 15 apples, 3 Fuyu persimmons, two Nectarines, two replacement pecans and a Satsuma tree. My wife also bought 6 olive trees for our anniversary that will be going in the ground this weekend.

Most of the new trees went into the chicken yard. Since its fenced in I don't have to put cages around them. Otherwise the deer make quick work of anything they can reach.

I also started grafting apple trees this year. Last year I dug up and severed some of the suckers around the base of our established apple trees and transplanted them to pots. When I pruned the new apple trees after planting them this year I grafted some of the cuttings onto the suckers. So far it looks like all but one has taken.

Planting fruit trees is kinda like crack, once you try it you can't get enough.

[rockriver]

mote,
question about the chicken pen.... sorta off topic.

do you cover the top?
..
you mentioned that it keeps the deer out...
i'm curious about flying varmints.

[motesjm]

No cover on the top. Its just fenced in with dog wire. If a deer really wants in he'll get in, but it will have to go over a few more fences to get to the chicken yard fence.

The primary reason for fencing the chicken yard was keeping the chickens out of my garden and its worked for that so far. The only protection from overhead predators is the coop and a few trees the chickens can hide under. We have lots of hawks but havent lost a chicken to one in a year or more.

[rockriver]

mote,
thank you.
a lot of us attempt to talk the walk
you clearly are walking the walk.
a tip of my hat to you and yours.
rr

[thedreamers]

we are trying our hand this year at planting 2 plum,2 apple,2 avocado,1 peach all in large containers. also going with grapes and bananas. so far its worked so so with the citrus trees. everything we plant is in a container or raised bed style. space is limited here in the camp ground. can't wait to move back out into the country.

[motesjm]

Thanks RR, we are giving it a hell of a shot.

I would love to grow Avacados. WM was selling them like crazy at $40 a pop this spring but everything I've read from our extension service and about the trees in general says they wont produce this far north. I have a feeling there will be a lot of disappointed folk in 5 or 6 years when they realize its just an ornamental for them.

Same thing with cherries and most varieties of citrus. We're a little too far south for good sweet cherries and a little too far north for the citrus.

[thedreamers]

plant them in containers and bring inside in winter. avocados and citrus can be trained to about 6-8ft. both do good in green houses in winter. that's to bad about the cherries. we had to go with an Anna and a Dorset apple tree to grow down here cause of there low chill hr requirements.

[Benn Gleck]

Ok so last week the ol'lady and I planted three more fruit trees at the Ponderosa(BOL).

Two pears. A Bartlett and a Moonglow.

One peach. A Reliance.

I've never heard of the Moonglow or Reliance but after some research the Moonglow is supposed to be very disease resistant and the Reliance is supposed to be very cold hardy, both attributes are good for Ohio.

We also are trying something new that I picked up on a forum dedicated to planting trees to attract wildlife. Up here in the north the winter causes mice or voles to chew the bark on trees so we took aluminum window screen and wrapped the trunks of the trees and stapled it together burying the bottom in the dirt. Also after learning from past experience about deer we put about a 4' circle of fence and a T-post around each tree.

I found the trees on clearance at Tractor Supply for $14.99 and they say fall is the best time of year to plant trees so boom, more edible landscaping.

We are trying to plant more fruit/nut trees each year.

Oh and MotesJim I love the pics, I'll see if we can't get some up as well.

[rockriver]

thanks for bringing this thread back to life!

we planted several last week.
4 small grape vines
2 satsumas that had fruit on them. I ate one for lunch today... sort of like a tangerine but larger.
2 peaches

2 small olive trees. that are still in pots. we will transfer them to larger pots, then plant them after the winter.

folks this is the time to be planting fruit trees.

rr

[thedreamers]

a buddy of mine gave us some sugar cain to plant. so I'm going to give it a try. also got lots of good starts on my banana trees this summer.

[ryder]

I harvested a whopping 41 apples off one of our small apple trees this year. Not bad for 20 miles from the continental divide at 4500 feet elevation in montana. Now I need to practice grafting so I can graft on a wild growing apple that grows in the shade and cold along a old stagecoach route and has the best tasting apple.

[motesjm]

Ok so last week the ol'lady and I planted three more fruit trees at the Ponderosa(BOL).

Two pears. A Bartlett and a Moonglow.

One peach. A Reliance.

I've never heard of the Moonglow or Reliance but after some research the Moonglow is supposed to be very disease resistant and the Reliance is supposed to be very cold hardy, both attributes are good for Ohio.

We also are trying something new that I picked up on a forum dedicated to planting trees to attract wildlife. Up here in the north the winter causes mice or voles to chew the bark on trees so we took aluminum window screen and wrapped the trunks of the trees and stapled it together burying the bottom in the dirt. Also after learning from past experience about deer we put about a 4' circle of fence and a T-post around each tree.

I found the trees on clearance at Tractor Supply for $14.99 and they say fall is the best time of year to plant trees so boom, more edible landscaping.

We are trying to plant more fruit/nut trees each year.

Oh and MotesJim I love the pics, I'll see if we can't get some up as well.

Looking forward to the pics. Seeing the hard work and achievements of others always inspires me.

I planted a moon glow pear a couple years ago. The tree is very healthy but it hasn't produced yet. I have a couple 5 year old Kieffer pears that put out a least a hundred big cooking pears a year. If you you are looking for fast production you might try one or two of those as well.

This winter I'm going to plant about 20 more apple trees. I've kinda gotten addicted to making hard apple cider, and that takes a whole lot of apples.