Choose a location with full sun and deep soil and which is not too wet most of the year. If you go to dig a hole and hear a wet sucking sound as your shovel unsticks from the soil, or worse if the hole begins to fill with water, it’s a good sign the spot is too wet.

Dig a hole a little bigger and deeper than the root ball of the tree you want to plant. If you have a potted tree, peel or cut off the pot first. Place the tree in the hole so that the top of the potting soil is level with the top of the hole (the soil line). If you have a bare-root tree, place the tree in the hole so that the highest root is only an inch or two under the soil surface. You don’t want to bury the graft union by accident, as it will cause the grafted variety to root and will give you a huge, possibly disease-prone tree that will sucker like crazy every year.

Fill in the hole only with the dirt that you took out. Don’t mix fertilizer or compost into the soil you put back. Doing this creates an “easy” nutrient zone that discourages the tree from sending out more roots. Essentially you can create a pot bound tree in the soil that will have a weak and shallow root system and will be prone to blowing over.

If you’ve purchased a dormant tree (no leaves yet) then wait until the tree is leafing out to sprinkle fertilizer around the root zone area. If you purchased a potted tree that is already leafed out, you can sprinkle fertilizer on the soil surface around the tree right after planting. Be sure to fertilize the area beyond the hole you dug, to encourage the roots to spread.

Apples, pears, and plums should be planted at least 15 feet apart from each other. This will ensure they have room to grow and will not be too crowded when they are mature. More space is better, if you have it available.

Pawpaws tolerate more shade and can be planted 10-12 feet apart. Peaches and nectarines don’t get as large and can also be planted 12-14 feet apart, but again more space is better if you can.

If you have fully matured trees near where you are planting your fruit trees, and they are larger than 20ft tall, you should ensure that they don’t cast a shadow over your new trees. I’ve seen many folks plant their fruit trees 20ft from their forest edge, and while on paper they followed the planting directions, in practice the huge forest trees will create a lot of shade on their fruit trees. Planting at least 60 feet from the forest line or a hedge-row of tall trees is best. If you have only a single large tree nearby, just 20-30ft between it and your new fruit tree is enough.

The G.935 Roostock is considered a “Semi-Dwarf” tree, meaning in good soil and full sun with average water and nutrients, it can be expected to grow to 10-12 ft high. Planting in partial-sun, shallow soil (ledge), or in an area that’s too dry or too wet can stunt the tree.

The G.969 Rootstock is considered a “Half-Standard” tree, meaning in good soil and full sun with average water and nutrients, it can be expected to grow to 12-16 ft high. Planting in partial-sun, shallow soil (ledge), or in an area that’s too dry or too wet can stunt the tree.

Our 2020 Grafted trees use the rootstock Geneva 935 or G.935. It is a “Semi-Dwarf” Rootstock. It is free standing, and tends to produce fruit earlier than other rootstocks. It is very resistant to fireblight, and resistant to both phytophthora rots and replant disease.

All trees grafted after 2021 are on a rootstock called Geneva 969 or G.969. It is a “Half-Standard” rootstock that produces a strong, free-standing tree, with good branch angles. It creates productive trees and seems to minimize biennial bearing, and is very cold-hardy. It is very resistant to fireblight and woolly apple aphid, and resistant to both phytophthora rots and replant disease.

Yes definitely. Our best customers are the ones who don’t use mouse guards; they need to buy new trees every other year after the voles and rabbits have decimated their new trees.

If you can, you should fertilize your young trees twice a year. The first application should be in the spring, once the leaves have started to come out, and you should use a fertilizer that is primarily nitrogen. Sprinkle the fertilizer all around the root zone, and a little beyond it, but not touching the trunk of the tree. The second application should be in early July, and if your tree is fruiting you should incorporate a fertilizer with potash in it. If your tree is still young, repeat with the same fertilizer as in the spring.

TIP: When reading fertilizer bags, the numbers read like X-X-X. The first number is nitrogen, the second is potash, and the third is phosphorous. Nitrogen promotes vegetative growth while potash and phosphorus are needed more for growing fruit.

Most important though, is to not fertilize after July, as the tree should be starting to shift nutrients to the roots for winter, and fertilizing in the fall can interfere with its ability to overwinter.

Choose whichever fertilizer you like best: Composted manure, Espoma, Miracle Grow. Trees aren’t quite as picky as annual plants as they grow wide root systems and mostly fend for themselves. The only fertilizer to avoid is the “tree spike” type. They don’t actually get nutrients to the tree (they are a gimmick).

We often say that the best thing a friend can do for you is to hide your pruning tools for the first three years after you purchase a tree. Young trees need very little pruning; only occasional correctional cuts. If you are not very confident in pruning, then it’s better to leave the tree alone entirely while it establishes itself.

We only really recommend pruning a young tree if it is growing two central leaders. In which case you should choose the best one and cut the other out. Otherwise waiting 3 or 4 years will help your tree put out a good root system and have enough leaves to gather a lot of sunlight before you start any shaping of the tree.

An alternative to pruning is to tie branches down, which is much better for the tree, and produces fruiting branches sooner.

While apple trees can survive in zones 3 - 8, some varieties do better in colder climates while others do better in warmer climates.

Most of the varieties we sell produce the best fruit in Zones 3-5. Warmer climate apples tend not to fruit well or taste good in northern climates, while cooler climate apples need the cold fall nights to get their full flavor and ripeness.

If you live in a borderline climate try to use your own micro-climates to your advantage. If you’re worried its slightly too cold, then plant on the south side near a building or other thermal mass and avoid planting in low spots where frost will collect. If you’re worried its slightly too warm, plant on the north side (but still good sun) and plant lower down on a hill, where the tree will get more cold air at night and in the winters.