Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Apple/Pear Trees

Orchard on hilltop. Sure is pretty.
Screenshot_20240419_132407_Gallery.jpg
 
I am sure it has been covered but what is the go to system for deer and rodent proofing trees?

I have a small orchard I am starting at my house and have fence posts with hardware cloth on bottom (for rodents/rabbits) and chicken wire on top(for deer), mulch around tree. But they are a pain to maintain due to weed growth around them, they are in my yard so i like to keep them looking respectable.

I would like to cage them good once this year and not have to touch cages again for a long time ideally.
 
I have a strategic east/west running field edge that I plan to plant approximately 20 fruit trees down this coming spring. It is great soil and well drained. Personally I've had tremendous luck with pears vs apples. Apples (Liberty, enterprise, AR Black) have done OK for me, but the pears (Keiffers & Advent) I've planted over the years are all BEASTs comparatively. Plus seem to produce way more tonnage. That said, it'd be nice to have options for the deer and eating.

I only have 6 years of fruit tree planting under my belt so am looking for suggestions on different basic varieties you've all had success with. I have no interest in spraying or "babying" them outside of general weed control and caging/tubing. Are there any varieties any of you are big believers in? What about persimmons?
 
Snail3496 said:
I have a strategic east/west running field edge that I plan to plant approximately 20 fruit trees down this coming spring. It is great soil and well drained. Personally I've had tremendous luck with pears vs apples. Apples (Liberty, enterprise, AR Black) have done OK for me, but the pears (Keiffers & Advent) I've planted over the years are all BEASTs comparatively. Plus seem to produce way more tonnage. That said, it'd be nice to have options for the deer and eating.

I only have 6 years of fruit tree planting under my belt so am looking for suggestions on different basic varieties you've all had success with. I have no interest in spraying or "babying" them outside of general weed control and caging/tubing. Are there any varieties any of you are big believers in? What about persimmons?
Click to expand...
Persimmon & chestnut are both very close to spray free. Only case might be like bugs eating the leaves. Few minor things. Like any tree- just needs babying. U will lose some as both can be a bit finicky but just replace when happens.
I’m a big fan of pears as well!!! Kieffer, Shenandoah, moonglow, Seckel, etc.
Last- could add some crabapple, dwarf chinkapin or regular chinkapin. & plums. I’d try some of everything really.
 
Snail3496 said:
I have a strategic east/west running field edge that I plan to plant approximately 20 fruit trees down this coming spring. It is great soil and well drained. Personally I've had tremendous luck with pears vs apples. Apples (Liberty, enterprise, AR Black) have done OK for me, but the pears (Keiffers & Advent) I've planted over the years are all BEASTs comparatively. Plus seem to produce way more tonnage. That said, it'd be nice to have options for the deer and eating.

I only have 6 years of fruit tree planting under my belt so am looking for suggestions on different basic varieties you've all had success with. I have no interest in spraying or "babying" them outside of general weed control and caging/tubing. Are there any varieties any of you are big believers in? What about persimmons?
Click to expand...
Take my fruit tree advice with a grain of salt, I am nowhere near an expert. But I do have enough failures behind me now to throw some advice out there. :)

I have had much better success with fall plantings, not spring...and this is considering that I often fight significant summer drought. (No drought this year, thankfully, but that is a rarity it seems. 3 or 4 out 5 years anymore are very, very dry through the summer months.) But even with significant stress from drought last year (2023), I am happy to say that I have many survivors that I planted in Sept/Oct of 2022. In fact, there is fruit on those babies this year. Not a lot of course, but it is very encouraging to see something going right for me when it comes to fruit trees. Pears survived last years drought, at least one crab apple did not. I will look more closely this weekend.

Although we haven't needed such a thing this year at all, I now have a watering system about 3/4 installed to water my current, and future, fruit trees from my pond that is about 200-250 yards away. It can be activated remotely by us electronically too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom