From left to right: Red Haven peach, Stanley prune-plum, Stark Honeysweet pear, and Golden Delicious apple..
My mini-home orchard. That's my clothesline cutting through the picture. All but the pear are "supreme" trees from Stark Bros. They were delivered in very good condition. The roots were still moist. Unfortunately the trees were not marked with chalk for the proper planting depth like expected. I have been doing a lot of reading about growing dwarf fruit trees properly (and they came with a planting guide), so I think they will be just fine. Just be sure not to allow the grafted area to come into contact with the soil or it may root you may loose the dwarfing aspect of the tree.
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MULCH: Keep mulch several inches from the base of the trees so that rodents can't find a place to hide. They like to eat away the bark at the base of the tree. If they completely eat their way around the trunk, the tree will likely die. In the pictures it appears as though I mulched all the way to the trunk. I did not. There is a dark brown, recycled rubber tree ring around the tree. Starting around 5-6 inches away from the trunks are thick layers of mulch on top of the tree rings.
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TREE GUARDS: I also ordered some tree guards to protect the young trunks from rodent damage and, in particular, sunscald. Since there are no branches or foliage to protect the young trunks from bright winter sun and reflections off of snow, the guards will help protect the vulnerable trunks. I've also heard of people using an outdoor, latex, white paint on older trees.
Above: Dwarf Stanley prune-plum. Self-fertile. European. Purchased from Stark Bros. A "supreme" tree.
Above: Dwarf Red Haven peach. Self-fertile. Purchased from Stark Bros. A "supreme" tree.
Above: Dwarf Golden Delicious apple. Self-fertile although having another apple or crabapple tree in bloom at the same time will increase the harvest. Purchased from Stark Bros. A "supreme" tree. It's a slightly curved tree, but it was the thickest with an excellent rootball.
Above: Dwarf Stark Honeysweet pear. Self-fertile. Purchased from Stark Bros. The only one that wasn't a "supreme" tree.
You are very lucky to have room for your very own little orchard. It will be interesting to watch your orchard grow!!
ReplyDeleteI look forward to watching it grow too. Spring is going to be an exciting time!
ReplyDeleteThat is so exciting for you! So much variety! We have only one fruit tree, a peach tree in the garden. It was planted by the previous owners. I have yet to eat a peach from that tree. Inside we have 2 meyer trees that have yet to grow any lemons or limes. Haha
ReplyDeletehttp://nycgardening.blogspot.com/2010/06/peach-no-longer.html
I was thinking about ordering a Meyer lemon tree. Maybe not. As for your peaches, hopefully next year you'll have more peaches than you know what to do with. :)
ReplyDeleteHows all the trees doing, im just starting this year (well now!!) i have apple/pear/plum/cherry and the same redhaven peach tree, any tips or advice as you have been going along, Thx paul UK
ReplyDeleteIf you need to amend your soil do it before you put the trees in. I did toss some tree and shrub mulch and Miracle Grow garden soil into the large holes I dug. My soil is heavy clay, so the mulch and garden soil helped to loosen it a bit to allow the roots to breathe a bit and expand out.
ReplyDeleteI would highly recommend tree guards. They were easy to locate online. I believe mine were from Starks where I bought the trees. I have had problems with squirrels yanking off the lowest foliage for whatever reason.
Other than that, I just water during long, dry spells and prune off dead and diseased looking branches.