Rhody Hunter

would putting a few apple trees out in the woods make an affective food plot ?I just want to plant them and forget them or are they going to require more care and time to maintain them which i don't have.


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Dan O.

It all depends on what you want out of it. If you want to spray, trim and use grafted varieties you'll obtain a larger more human edible crop. The deer don't mind if there are worms or misshaped fruit. I have approx. 10 acres of natural seeded trees that the deer use. Some of the sweeter ones get eaten first but even the sour ones get used as winter feed. Crab apples are more disease resistant than regular apple varieties. The one thing that either may need is protection from mice and deer. This can be a plastic tube around the trunk, a wire mesh enclosure or a painting on the trunk of deer repellent.

Dan O.

don_hamer

Rhody_Hunter: Do you want these apple trees for yourself or for the wildlife? If you want them for the wildlife, I agree with Dan O., but if you want them for yourself, then I recommend more care.

Rhody Hunter

I want them to attract the deer not for me I know they would need more care to make them more appealing to eat myself






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Dan O.

If you go for crabapples you'll only need deer & mice protection.Some fertilizer, mulchand trimming as required helps. When the trees get larger they should be self sufficient except for trimming of dead limbs and emergency sprays.

The answer to your original question: yes, a few apple trees help to draw in deer. Make sure that you plant late varieties that ripen near the hunting season.

Dan O.

fshafly2

Consider planting (disease-resistant) pear trees instead of apples. I have both pear and apple orchards, and the pears are closer to the "plant and forget". You'll still likely need to provide them some TLC to get them established.

Check out the Trophy Pear from Edward Fort Nursery, as it is a good early producer and fairly disease resistant- I am not sure how far into the frozen north it will survive...

-fsh