Apple Trees Planting

An apple orchard full of trees laden with fresh apples is quite a sight. Developing an apple orchard is a great idea for landscaping that gives a fresh look to your outdoors and earns you loads of sweet and homemade apples, of course a prerequisite being, enough land at your disposal. Apple trees can also function as a privacy fence, which makes them useful even during off season. Apple trees are available in various types and sizes and one can select the best species according to his/her choice and adore it the way he/she prefers to. Apart from deciding whether you want the standard or dwarf fruit trees, the most important thing you need to do while planting apple trees is to find apple species that can thrive well in the area where you live.

Apple Tree Facts

The best way to find suitable apple tree species for your purpose is to consult the local County Extension Office. If you live in hardy zone 3 to 8, then 'Golden Delicious', 'Haralred', 'Cortland' and 'Honeycrisp' are the suitable species for you, because they require chillier atmospheric conditions. Once you are aware of the apple tree varieties, the next question is the nature of that particular tree and the texture of its fruits. For instance, you should go for 'Honeycrisp' if you want sweet apples, while, you can go for 'Granny smith' apples if you wish to have tart apples. 'Macoun' apple trees have crispy apple fruits and species like 'Liberty', Northern Spy' and 'Golden Delicious' are great for making apple pies.

Next and the most important factor is selecting the most disease resistant species for your project of apple trees planting. Some of the few common apple tree diseases are fire blight, powdery mildew, apple scab and cedar apple rust. To keep your orchard safe from these diseases, you should go for apple tree species like 'Freedom', 'Liberty', 'Enterprise', 'Redfree', etc. Lastly, you should also be aware about the blooming season of apple trees that you are planting. 'Beacon', 'Paulared', 'Ginger Gold', and 'State Fair' are the early blooming apple species. Species like 'Cortland', 'Honeycrisp', 'Liberty', 'Gala' and 'McIntosh' bloom during mid-season and 'Golden Delicious', 'Rome', 'Haralred' and 'Northern Spy' bloom very late in the season.

Planting the Trees

The task of apple tree planting can be performed anytime throughout winter and early spring season in October, November and December. Here are some details that you would like to concentrate on before growing apple trees.

Pollination
You cannot plant an apple tree and expect it to produce delicious fruits right away, because it requires more than two apple trees for apple tree pollination. Apple trees cannot pollinate on their own and hence, they require another variety of apple tree or a crabapple tree to produce fruits. Yes, it is a fact that most apple species that are available in the market today are sold as self-pollinating, but they show great results if they are cross-pollinated. For better results, it is also important to plant the apple species that bloom at the same time. This way you can expect an early king blossom (opening and the largest blossom of the trees). But also remember that 'Winesap', 'Stayman', 'Jonagold', 'Mutsu', 'Red Gravenstein' and 'Northern Spy' should never be cross pollinated as they produce sterile pollen.

Location
Make sure that you plant the apple trees in full sunlight and partial shade. Make it a point that the site that you have selected for planting doesn't get water-logged or frost packed (place where cold air settles down). Most soil conditions are suitable for apple trees, except extremely alkaline and acidic soils. The ideal pH for apple trees ranges from 6 to 6.5, but it can tolerate pH levels of 5.5 to 8.5. Apple tree also seeks loamy and rich soil with good drainage qualities. For best results, prepare the soil in the month before planting. If you are planting the trees on a previously fertilized soil, then never add any fertilizers while planting. If you are planting them in a lawn, then provide bone meal or another good quality fertilizer at the time of planting.

Plantation
Once you have selected the location, dig a 2' x 4' (60cm by 1.2m) square hole inside the soil and make the soil crumbly with proper mulching. Place one sapling in one hole and cover the roots till the overall ground level. Do not add any fertilizers at this time as they can burn the tree roots. Keep the rootstock at least 2 inches above the ground level. Now, firm down the soil so that it comes in close contact with the roots. Staking the apple plants is essential while planting. For that, place a 3 inch stake from the main stem and tie it to the trunk. Vigorous apple tree species may require staking for longer than the first two seasons.

Attention
Thinning out the plants is needed from the first blossom of the apples, no matter how large it is. For that, you need to cut off the central apple from each cluster, which is often misshapen and low-grade fruit, called the king apple. Once the fruits start to appear, be watchful of every apple tree. It is also important to give additional support to the branches that are loaded with too many apples. Apple tree pruning is also very essential from the first season of plantation itself. Giving proper shape to the plants, removing suckers, curly branches and diseased leaves, etc. are some of the things that should be included in your pruning job.

The best way to find out the exact time of harvesting is to sample taste a fruit. If it tastes good, then it is ready to be plucked. You need to be careful while harvesting and handling the apples. Make sure that they don't get bruised while harvesting. Store the apples in cool and well ventilated conditions of around 3 degree C. If you cannot provide such storage conditions to the fruits, then you can also store them in the garage or a garden shed.