TimberPig

First, I am new to this site and want to say thanks to all the regular members who take the time to share their experience and knowledge. I have been lurking around here for about a year and have learned alot already.
I live in central Iowa and have just purchased 58 acres of land. 18 acres is currently cropped and will be seeded into CRP, native grasses, a windbreak, and food plots at the next available CRP general sign up. The remaining 40 acres is timber. This spring I would like to plant 6-10 apple trees for deer in some natural openings in the timber. I called several nurseries and prices run about $25-$30 each for 5'-6' trees. I would like some opinions on which variety of tree to plant that will have decent growth rates and drop apples as late as possible. Bow season opens here Oct 1st, but I generally dont hunt much until Halloween, due to all the standing crops. One dealer suggested Delicious variety (that was all he had) the other dealers didnt have a clue for what I wanted. Do you think 6-10 trees is enough, and roughly how long will it take to produce apples? Dealers said 2-3 years, but that seems pretty fast. The trees will be staked and fenced to protect them, and I can access them to water if needed, via ATV. Thanks for any help!

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Dan O.

Six to ten trees is a good start if you're planting dwarfs. That many standard or semi-dwarf trees will produce a lot of apples when they're mature. Dwarf trees will supply a quick snack for the deer in 2-3 years. The latest ripening varieties are (last ripening first): Rome, Lindel, Golden Russet, Mutsu, Northern Spy, Idared, and Golden Delicious.

Dan O.

farm hunter

Welcome to the board timberpig - Dan O. seems to be the resident apple tree expert, he can offer some good advice.

I've never planted them, we have old orchards on the property, and a healthy population of "wild apples" that grew in the old fields abandoned in 1961. As a result, we've trimmed out quite a few, and in a good apple year, we have a windfall of an apple crop.

As far as my experience with apples, I can tell you that we generally have 2 types of apples - those that fall early(October)and those that fall late (November). The original varieties are unkown, but its my understanding that Northern Spy will stay on the tree longer, and we think that is one of our varieties (my grandmother always called them winter apples, or baking apples). While its good information to know, I can also attest that the deer seem to prefer the softer, riper apples that fall early - and will ignore the winter apples until the first are gone.

I'm not sure, but I've heard how you prune a tree will speed the production of apples on a young tree, maybe someone else can verify this, and why.

TimberPig

Thanks for the suggestions guys, this will give me some ideas when its time to order my trees. I am also eyeing another opening in the timber with the idea of a small clover food plot, so I will probably have some more questions to bug you with in the future. These things, plus planting 3,500 trees for a riparian buffer, a 3 acre switchgrass stream buffer, and having a new house built, all in the next 3-5 months ought to keep me pretty busy this spring. If anyone else has any ideas, keep 'em coming...

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Dan O.

farm hunter; proper pruning delays fruit production rather than speeding it up. But; if you don't form the tree you'll run into problems with tight joints which tend to split, poor branch distribution for light and spray penetration, and a weaker root system. If you pruned a tree to force one section it would speed up fruiting, but the long term shape of the tree would be poor.

Dan O.

farm hunter

Thanks Dan - I wasn't completely aware of that.

In my situation, I'm trimming out dead branches, suckers, and long horizontil growth, sometimes on old growth apple trees, but usually on the young, wild trees - maybe 10-15 years old - Any specific advice for an apple tree that has never been pruned - some over 50 years old - or for the 10-15 year old tree getting its first "cutback"?

Dan O.

With those types of trees I'd only try to remove diseased wood and limbs that are growing over top of each other. Try not to remove more than 10 - 20% of the fruiting wood or you'll force too much sucker growth. When you finish pruning the tree limbs should look like a wagon wheel from the top.

Dan O.

Elkhair

What type of soil and rainfall do apples require? Also, how long and why/when do you fence them? Thanks for all the good info!

Dan O.

Apples don't require the best drainage to survive so you can plant them on all soil types as long as they're not in standing water. Personally; I'd look for a loam soil with a slight slope. They don't mind cover crops as long as you keep the crop/grass mowed and fertilize enough for the tree and the cover crop. A study was done to determine how to get the best root growth from newly planted trees. Different size areas around the newly planted trees were mulched or sprayed. The results showed that the newly planted trees only put out roots as far as the grass was killed. It was like growing them in different size pots. It's recommended to mulch or spray a 6' diameter area around the trees after planting until they get established (3-5 years). After that, routine mowings will reduce the grass root competition while maintaining soil organic matter and minimizing erosion.

If your area gets approx. 30" of rainfall per year they should grow without irrigation. More rain will make the trees suseptible to mildew and scab.

I put tree guards on the trees to prevent rodents from chewing the bark. If deer start feeding on the limbs I hang a bar of soap in the trees. Other people put cages around them but I haven't had to in my area.

Dan O.

Elkhair

Again, thanks! I really appreciate the shared wisdom here.