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In the past week or so, Ross and I have planted 16 trees. I’ve never planted a tree before and neither has Ross, so we were pretty much the Keystone Cop tree planters. I ordered most of my trees from Stark Brothers. The trees came in big narrow boxes. I guess I was expecting something that looked like a tree.
They mostly looked like big sticks.
Ross said, “We’re planting sticks?”
The sugar maples came first. I planted them along the strip of grass between the two access roads. I studied the little tree planting guide that came with the trees for two hours while the trees soaked in buckets of water, realizing I didn’t have what you were supposed to have to plant trees. As in, some nice rich topsoil and peat moss, not to mention some mulch.
Oh, well, I was sure it would be okay. Only the soil there turned out to be some quite ugly clay. I went back to the house and got a bag of potting soil, which contained topsoil, peat moss, and fertilizer. I mixed that into the clay and we went ahead and planted the trees. Probably, I shouldn’t have put potting soil with fertilizer directly in the holes, so maybe I killed five sugar maples.
I told Ross he could explain to everyone in 40 years why they had no maple syrup. Or I’ll just get some more trees next year if these die. There is a one-time replacement policy, which is helpful if you’re stupid.
Before the next batch of trees arrived, I stocked up on topsoil, peat moss, and mulch.
I started soaking my sticks and studying the guide again. I was determined to become a super tree planter!
Some of the trees came in pots, and other were bare root, like the maples.
I searched the internet for more advice. I studied the guide again. I fretted over identifying the bud-union where the trees were grafted. Most of my fruit trees are dwarf or semi-dwarf varieties. If you plant the bud-union beneath the ground, your dwarf or semi-dwarf tree will forget its destiny and revert to a full-size tree.
I’m sure I make all this tree planting sound more difficult than it has to be.
Ross dug the holes for me. He dug all the holes in about 30 minutes. He’s a powerhouse with a post hole digger, shovel, and spud bar (for breaking rocks).
I meticulously mixed buckets of topsoil and peat moss. I studied the guide again. I fretted over the bud-unions. I sat on the ground, holding the “stick” in one hand, filling in topsoil with the other, tamping soil down, watering in the hole, adding more topsoil and peat moss, tamping, watering, and finally mulching, being careful to keep the mulch an inch away from the trunk and not to mulch too heavily. Or too lightly.
Then I’d move my little operation to the next hole.
Several hours later, Ross came outside to check if I was ready for the next step in which he would be involved. (Driving the t-post and cutting the fence wire.) He said, “You’re not done yet? Are you taking 45 minutes to plant each tree?!”
I’m sure that was an exaggeration!
By evening, we were on task with the t-posts and fence wire. Each tree was wrapped and secured. And re-mulched because the chickens dug up the mulch under nearly every tree.
The chickens really enjoyed the day’s activities.
We planted ten trees that day. Fig–on the south side of the house, where it will be protected from the coldest temperatures in winter. Two paw paws (because they need a pollinator) in the side yard from the studio, where they can get some shade during part of the day. On the hillside between the studio and the upper pasture, where they will get full sun and good drainage: One peach tree, one apricot tree, and two plum trees (because they need a pollinator).
The apricot tree is my favorite because it looks like a tree. It has leaves. (It came from a garden center.)
Down by the creek where the apple trees are: One mulberry tree, and two hazelnut trees.
The guide said to lop off 1/3 to 1/2 of the hazelnut trees and paint the remaining trunks (trunks? sticks?) with a white latex to protect them from the sun the first year. I had to put white latex paint on the shopping list because I didn’t have any, and I wussed out on lopping the sticks. Though when I go back to paint them, I will try to gather my courage.
My sassafras tree arrived on a later day. I have sassafras trees in the woods by the upper pasture. They’re hard to get to and you can’t see them from the house. I decided it would be fitting to plant one near the gate and the farm sign. Sort of like signing my name in ink rather than pencil on this farm.
I realized I forgot to get a pear tree. I thought I’d gotten one. If I get out to the garden center soon, before Ross the hole digger is gone, I’ll pick up a pear tree. There’s room for more in my little “orchard” on the hillside above the studio. I might try one of those cold-hardy kiwis. Will see what I find at the garden center. (Anyone tried those cold-hardy kiwis?)
Meanwhile, I walked around this weekend admiring my nicely-planted fruit and nut trees, feeling smug about my assiduous tree planting study. I feel proud managing my farm myself, making plans, carrying them out, and I am really enjoying it. I’ve got BIG plans for a garden (I’ll go over those sometime in a future post) and I want berry bushes, but I was adamant with myself about sacrificing everything else this first spring to getting trees in the ground. I’ll get my garden set up sometime this summer, and I may not plant anything in it this year but a fall crop, and it may be next spring before I plant berry bushes. I’m focused. I want trees in the ground. And I want to take on each task and do it right (er, brief lapse with the maple trees notwithstanding, which is a fine representation of my former rampant impetuosity). I had some guys out here the other day, by the way, to go over my milking parlor. SarahGrace and her little team of helpers on her farm are sure BP and Glory Bee are both bred! Like studying beekeeping a year in advance of my plan to get bees, I will have a fantastic, under-roof, lighted, ever-dry milking parlor in a stall in the barn with a strong headlock cemented in the ground, and I will have it in place months before they calve. I do not have any chicks or ducklings or goslings because I don’t have a chicken house or a brooder yet. I’m not bringing home anything I’m not ready to support.
Such patience and planning! (Who are you and what have you done with Suzanne?) Not that all my fine planning always works out. Case in point: Patriot’s escape from the field carefully secured by an experienced farmer and horse owner himself.
Anyway. Back to my admiration of my tree planting work. Then I noticed that I’d planted one of the paw paws directly under a power line. All that careful study……. LOOK UP, SUZANNE, LOOK UP!
Sigh.
We’ll be moving that one here in a few days.
I’m sure the chickens will be there.
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Hugs
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I have 3 apple, 4 peach, 3 pear, 3 plum and 2 cherry .
Let me pass on a pruning tip given to me by a local farmer that has many orchards : once your tree is of a size and shape you like ,you do not need to wait for “winter ” to prune them back. you can prune all season long, clipping off the new growth . This way the energy goes to the fruit , not to putting out new branches. Also ,on most varities it is the horizontal branches that bare the fruit , not the vertical . So , if you clip off branches clip off the vertical growth. Some fruit types like an open center pruning wise , to increase air circulation. I recommend getting a orchard pruning book before you do your first pruning .
TinaH
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You know why you have to trim that tree back don’t you?? because the roots are not large enough to support the growth on top. I know it will hurt but i would at least cut 1/3 off. Best wishes with your little orchard. Hugs! deb
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Second, is your pear tree close to your cherries and/or other fruit trees? Pear blossoms can have almost a sour smell to them, which can make it difficult to attract bees for pollination. In commercial orchards, we interplant an apple or cherry tree, at a ratio of about one for every 20 pear trees to entice the bees to come on in, check out the blossoms and set a spell. You’ll have better fruit production if your pear is close to your other fruit trees.
Good luck! :-)
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I love the trees, your Sassafras Farm is beautiful. I can hardly wait to see all the trees in bloom in a year. When your sugar maples get big you can sell starts to everyone you know and anyone you don’t. The seeds fall to the ground and grow freely by the 100s if they are anything like the maples we have.
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What verity of fruit trees? I mean not just what type of fruit but what name. I’ve enjoyed Sunset Garden Guide reading about what verities there are.
It helps talking to the trees.
mds
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Isn’t it wonderful to have a shovel/digging bar gifted son? We planted 34 fruit trees as well as dozens of berry bushes and it would not have gone as well as it did without my son. He’s strong and not afraid to work. We don’t have a house yet but we’ve got our fruit trees planted.
I love the idea of the Sassafras near your sign. That’s just perfect.
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Do persimmon trees grow well in WV? Think about delicious persimmon pudding with dollops of whipped cream at the holidays! Plant a persimmon tree!
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I don’t know if the kiwis I have are cold hardy, but they were supposed to be a make and female…I have beautiful flowers each year and plenty of insect activity but as yet (15 years on) no fruit! (Well, except for the year I bought a tray of kiwis and wired them on to fool my OH who had been away for a couple of weeks
Just a thought, could you grow walnut trees there?
Best wishes
Rose H
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KRingsrud is correct in cutting off 1/3 of the whip as it forces the root system to develop first. On the trunk (though you may not be able to see it), dormant branches will grow out below this lopping.
Now, not to alarm you to much:
Digging holes with ether a shovel or post hole digger are not the best tools to use, as they leave a smooth side which is hard for your tree roots to break through unless, you have scratched the outer walls with something sharp.
By placing peat and top soil in the hole with clay soil, the roots will take the avenue of least resistance, and will wrap around themselves in a tangled mess in the hole, with the result “strangulation”.
I also have clay soil where I live in Texas. When I planted the few trees on my little .24 acre I used a spade fork to dig the holes (which leaves very little scaring in the soil).
PRECAUTION WHEN PLATING IN CLAY SOIL! FOR THOSE LIKE ME WHO LIVE IN THE SOUTH WITH CLAY SOIL, PLANT HIGHER THEN THE BUD UNION OR FIELD PLANTING (APPROX 1/2″), TO INSURE THAT THE ROOT SYSTEM IS ABLE TO GET OXYGEN.
“DO NOT” FERTILIZE WHILE PLANTING OR IN THE FIRST YEAR! “AS THIS WILL BURN THE TINDER ROOTS”!
THAT IS DONE IN THE SECOND YEAR OF GROWTH.
If you you want to place something in the bottom of your planting hole, use a table spoon of Epsom Salt which will help your plant absorb the minerals lock in the surrounding soil.
PS: Make sure to place some soil over it first before planting your tree on top!
1) Always make the hole twice as wide as the ball or bare root system and as deep as it was field planted.
2) With a container bought plant, take a sharp knife and slice down the side of the root ball in several place to encourage the roots to grow outward (instead of continuing their growth AS IF in the planter).
3) For bare root trees: Trim off any broken roots.
After digging your hole (for your bare root dormant tree(s), make a mound in the bottom of each hole in which to spread the root system over and around the bottom of the hole.
4) Then while holding the tree with one hand (as straight as possible), start filling the hole up (with the same soil you dug up) pressing down on the soil as you go. This assures that the roots will make good contact with the soil.
When the hole is half full of of native soil, water it in to help settle the soil around the roots, and continue filling the hole up the rest of the way with soil.
When your all through, trickle water in each planting hole for approx. 30 minutes, and then mulch around each plant.