I planted these trees in May of 2012. They got pruned yesterday and are doing very well. Once they start growing, cement weights will be hung on the branches to get them more horizontal. Royal Cortland Honeycrisp Linda mac
Firewood, Nice looking apples trees. Looks like you have a good fence to try to slow the deer down. I used to have a couple of pear trees without deer protection and wow then could clean that tree in a day once those pears got ripe/sweet. I then started picking the pears and letting them ripen on the table. Less loss that way. And to educate me; I never heard of a Linda mac variety? Do you get enough to sell or is just for your personal use?
Linda Mac is an improved MacIntosh apple. These trees are a supplement to the 28 standard sized trees that are already producing. Unfortunately they are now 25 years old and are past prime. So in the fall as soon as the crop comes off, they are getting pulled out by the roots with an excavator, a 8' deer proof fence will be installed and 220 new trees are coming April of 2016. The will be grown on the tall spindle system. This is long but is an excellent lecture on tall spindle.
I'm considering a plot of tall spindle dwarfs but for 'hard' cider. I have some old trees that just aren't doing much any more no matter how I prune and groom them. Pretty much the only thing left that are doing well are asian and 1 bartlett pear tree which are all fairly young. Really frustrating after a season of manicuring and spraying and spraying to have a crop walk off on two legs at night. I've lost a row of seckels to some grub that gets into the rootstock.
That's great. My wife would be doing back flips if she got fruit like that on a tree. The apple trees we did have were killed by cedar apple rust. We're working on pear trees now and using chinese varieties, since they are less prone to disease.
Wow, that orchard is impressive. Lots to learn by following your thread. I haven't planted any fruit trees for a while. so many pest and I won't use pesticides. Your plants look fantastic.
Growing high quality apples without pesticides and fungicides is very difficult. In the first pic a new bug, (leafminer) showed up, it has never been an issue before. It made the lesions than can be seen on the leaf. This particular pesticides is $150 per pound. 5 oz will treat and acre volume of trees. Nonethelss, pricey stuff. Imidan is about $10/pound. If you aren't going to spray, look at the varieties that are immune to scab, by far the biggest problem. Bugs are easy.
Firewood Bandit Can you tell me some varieties that are as maintenance free as you can get? I'd like to plant a few for deer. No interest in harvesting. Shade tolerant would be a plus as well. I'm equipped to spray, and have access to any chem needed, but this will be 90 miles from home so actually getting there at the right time is the issue. Also, how and when do you prune? Thanks!
mine are at least 35 years old haven't been pruned in 12 years I been here will be this February. but I got 100,000 plus apples on 8 trees easy mostly small. deer eat the drops and wife makes applesauce out of as many as we can.. tried to get pic too far for tablet. camera batteries are dead because I have a daughter!
Pruning is done when dormant in late Winter. Here is a list of disease resistant: http://www.acnursery.com/acn_resistant.php
