Fruit Trees

I ave been looking into planting a couple of fruit trees on the land that I hunt this year. I have found a lot of great resources on the Internet about diversification, types, etc. I have decided that I would like to do a combination of pear and apple trees (w/ different apple trees that produce fruit early, middle, and late season). I have a couple of questions that I was hoping to solicit some answers for. Any experiences planting trees (good and bad)? Benefits of trees vs traditional food plots (cost, effectiveness)? I understand they won't be huntable for a couple of years, but to decrease that waiting time I would like to find a nursery that I can purchase 5-6 ft tall (or taller).any suggestions? Thanks!

I agree with Jonnya83 Very addictive. I started 8 years ago Planting 6-8 trees a year I now have 55 fruit trees on my land all different kinds of apple,pear,crab apple. It is fun i lost some trees at first with not proper fencing and raps on the trunks but after you get that figured out your good to go. This should be a big year for my trees and it does take awhile to get fruit. Its a cheep and fun investment to your land.

I would discount last years apple production due to the extreme spring we had, but that's the nature of fruit trees in that it's up to mother nature in the end still no matter what you do to the trees. But foodplots also depend on timely rains so nothing is a slam dunk. Variety is the best option.

I think being huntable in a couple years would be very wishful thinking, at least for regular apple trees. My neighbor planted a few and they don't produce that much, nothing a deer couldn't clean up in a day or two. I have 3 older trees in my back yard and its boom or bust with them it seems. 2 years ago I had all kinds of apples. Had to rake them out of the yard so I could cut the grass and the deer were all over them. Last year I had maybe 5 apples between all 3 trees, and no deer around. If I had the options, I'd do both fruit trees and food plots, I wouldn't rely just on trees.

Fruit trees are really addictive. Do it right and have patience and you'll have fruit for years. check out the native habitat section on the QDMA forums for tons of great info. Protection is most important on young trees. 5' fence for deer and 36" window screen around the bottom of the trunk for protection against girdling by mice, rabbits, etc. Pay attention to rootstock. B118 is best for wildlife. B118 will produce an 85-90% size tree. M7 is ok but only produces 50-60% size tree. Look for disease resistant varieties. Liberty, enterprise, freedom are three staples. Dolgo, Whitney, chestnut, and centennial crabs are also good options. Woodstock nursery has most of those listed.

Crabs are cheaper and make good cross polinators... and the deer will still eat them.

I don't plan on eating them, so is there a benefit to crab apples vs. regular apples? Thanks for the advice!

One advantage is yo plant them once and they make apples for years. Ya can eat the fruit too. I won't bother planting fruit trees in bear country though. We have 2 apples, 1 pear, 1 prune and 2 cherry trees in the yard. We only got one prune last year and it was the best prune I ever ate. I'm sure the deer would love them.

I'd add a hardy crab apple tree or 3. The 'Dolgo Crab' is a good choice, fruit just smaller than a golf ball. Any fruit tree needs super protection while young.

I'm no expert, but I will share what we have done. We planted several trees in openings and our plots. Important to have cross polinators nearby. Also make sure to put fencing around the trees to keep the deer from rubbing on them. Water is a must. As dry as its been the past few summers by us, we have had to bucket water to them once a week. Also the last few cold springs have froze out our blossoms. Even the mature apple trees had no apples this past year. Food plots give more immediate returns than trees. We have apple trees that are pushing six years old. And although they have tripled in size, they still only put out a handful of apples in a normal year. Its important that your expectations arent too high. Lots of factors come into play with trees.