Fruitful Land

Site Selection and Spacing

The first thing you need to consider is where you will plant your trees. It may seem a bit silly to say this as it seems to state the obvious, but all too often I have seen people buy their trees on emotion and impulse only to have to decide what to do with their trees when they get them home.

Your orchard does not have to be planted in rows like a commercial orchard, you can plant trees along a fence row, driveway, or place them as part of an overall landscape design, but you do need to allow enough room around each tree for it to grow to its full size. Also, you need to allow for mowing machines and sprayer access when the trees are full size.

There are three sizes of trees -  Dwarf (8'-12'height), Semi-dwarf (10'-16'height), and Full sized also called "Seedling" (15'-20'height).  The sizing characteristics are determined by the rootstock on which the Scion (tree top variety) is budded. There are several named and numbered varieties of rootstocks used to bud (graft) apple varieties, but all we need to know here is the three sizes of trees they produce. If you want say a Zestar tree, you can have it in a dwarf size, semi-dwarf size, or full size tree.

Spacing

Rootstock determines the size, the scion determines the variety of apple. These tree heights are approximations and can be controlled to some extent with your pruning shears and your desire. The more important dimension is the horizontal space each tree will need. Dwarf trees will need 5'-10'. Semi-dwarf 12'-15' and Full sized trees 15'-20'.  Remember to allow enough room for your mower and tractor to drive on both sides of your trees. A common error is to plant trees too close only to have problems develop 5-10 years later when it is entirely too late to make an easy remedy.

Choose Your Varieties

Choosing which varieties to plant is an important decision. You need to pick varieties that will grow in your area. There are certain types of apples that grow well in the Northern states, and some that will do better in the south. The US is divided into several hardiness zones according to high and low temperatures. You can look up your zone using your zipcode here. The smaller the hardiness zone number, the colder the climate. There are no straight lines across any states because local conditions can vary widely. The zipcode search will give you a fairly accurate estimate of your zone. Choose varieties that are rated for your zone number or higher.

I am a grower in Minnesota, so I see the limitations and problems with trees planted above their zone a lot.  You can sometimes plant a marginally tolerant variety and have it grow for several years only to have it decimated by a particularly cold winter, or an early spring warm-up and freeze. If you are willing to take the risk on that, OK, but it is usually better to do a little homework and pick varieties suited to your area and have better success. Dead trees do not bear fruit. That's simple enough.

You can choose to grow varieties that you like and find in your grocery store, provided, of course that they will grow in your area. Or, you can grow the apples that you cannot find commercially. There are hundreds of apple varieties that are not grown commercially, but are excellent apples for the home grower. Browse our selected list of varieties to find some good northern apples.

Look around your area and visit some local orchards to see what works well where you live. Ask local growers at the farm markets about their favorite local apples. Most local growers are eager to share their knowledge. We like talking about the work we love to do!

You may choose varieties that are disease resistant like Liberty or Williams Pride and eliminate the need for apple scab sprays.

Check out our nursery list of growers that produce and sell heirloom and special apple tree varieties. These trees are usually available seasonally in the spring for spring planting. The trees are shipped dormant and bare root.  Potted trees are available at many local garden centers, but variety and rootstock selections will be much more limited.

Harvest Dates

When you plan your orchard, do not forget about harvest dates. Choosing some early, mid season and late season apples will give you a more usable harvest than if they become ripe in the same week. Later varieties tend to taste better, keep longer and be more versatile than the early ones. This doesn't mean that all early apples are sub standard, there are many unique and rich tasting types, but you should probably plant less of the early ones, and more of the later ones just because they will stay in good condition longer.

Pollination

Many people ask questions about pollination.  "Do I need to plant pollinators?"

The answer is probably "Yes", but it is not usually a big deal.

Here's my explanation:

If you live in a suburban setting, the flowering crabs at your neighbor's house may act as your pollinators. Also, certain varieties are self fertile meaning that the pollen from their own flowers will germinate the seeds and set  apples.. For apples that are self sterile, pollen from another tree is required for that tree to set fruit. Crab apples are a good choice because they tend to bloom over a long period of time and thus ensure a good pollen supply during the bloom period of your orchard and thus ensure a good pollen supply during the bloom of your trees.  I suggest planting a crab apple that gives you something good for its space like a Dolgo crab (for great crimson/purple apple jelly) or a Chesnut Crab (for a surprisingly good early/midseason eating apple - yes, an eating apple!)