Planted an apple tree. Some questions

In an effort to increase food for the deer around my camp (and house) I'll be planting several apple trees this year.

Some questions

Currently they are seedlings about 8 inches tall in planters, grown from one of the rare wild apple trees around here. "Here" is Muskoka. So not the easiest growing situation.

When should I transfer them to the ground?

How many years before I should expect fruit? 5? 10? More?

Any advice for keeping bears off it? I plan on putting some fencing around them to keep the deer away in this small stage, but im worried about bears once it does starting bearing fruit

Thanks

Bears love apples, at least in my hunting area.

I have grown apple tree from seeds have them in one foot diameter pot 15 of them together , I grow them inside the house from January then in spring cut of the plastic pot and put in the a hole in the ground ( all together as is ) on woodland sunny spot Muskoka Fawn lake road property and left them there for 2 years and then planted separately the place i wanted

Against the bear is one solution , take of the apple each year when the apples are very small , do tis until the apple trees are strong enough ....

After 5 years you can expect fruits , Be patience it is worth it ...

Make sure you put plastic coil against the rabbits on tree trunk and don't remove it first 5-10 year...(very important ...!)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by blasted_saber

In an effort to increase food for the deer around my camp (and house) I'll be planting several apple trees this year.

Some questions

Currently they are seedlings about 8 inches tall in planters, grown from one of the rare wild apple trees around here. "Here" is Muskoka. So not the easiest growing situation.

When should I transfer them to the ground?

How many years before I should expect fruit? 5? 10? More?

Any advice for keeping bears off it? I plan on putting some fencing around them to keep the deer away in this small stage, but im worried about bears once it does starting bearing fruit

Thanks

---

As far as keeping bears off the trees when they have fruit, that will be hard to do, as you know they are great climbers and will easily break off branches while climbing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by alfoldivandor

I have grown apple tree from seeds have them in one foot diameter pot 15 of them together , I grow them inside the house from January then in spring cut of the plastic pot and put in the a hole in the ground ( all together as is ) on woodland sunny spot Muskoka Fawn lake road property and left them there for 2 years and then planted separately the place i wanted

Against the bear is one solution , take of the apple each year when the apples are very small , do tis until the apple trees are strong enough ....

After 5 years you can expect fruits , Be patience it is worth it ...

Make sure you put plastic coil against the rabbits on tree trunk and don't remove it first 5-10 year...(very important ...!)

---

Thankyou! I would not have thought about the plastic coil.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jaycee

As far as keeping bears off the trees when they have fruit, that will be hard to do, as you know they are great climbers and will easily break off branches while climbing.

---

Yes, I realize this is probably a losing battle im going to try it because, why not?

Bears will destroy the tree when bearing fruit.

It can be grown as low as possible "Bush tree"

So the bears can eat standing from the ground ...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by trailblzr

Bears will destroy the tree when bearing fruit.

---

I took of the coil at trunk 1.5 in diameter ,
sure next spring the rabbits killed the tree at the , to the hight of the snow cower
so the plastic or wire mesh cover to be 3ft hight from the ground .

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by blasted_saber

Thankyou! I would not have thought about the plastic coil.



Yes, I realize this is probably a losing battle im going to try it because, why not?

---

Look the bright side of it .... You will not have to buy a bear bait ....

Just need a good cooler with ice for the meat , and patience to wait for the bears to come ....

Lot of people just see the problems ... And I see just the solution ....

Attachment 38709

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jaycee

As far as keeping bears off the trees when they have fruit, that will be hard to do, as you know they are great climbers and will easily break off branches while climbing.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by alfoldivandor

Look the bright side of it .... You will not have to buy a bear bait ....

Just need a good cooler with ice for the meat , and patience to wait for the bears to come ....

Lot of people just see the problems ... And I see just the solution ....

Attachment 38709

---

In that picture , those branches would easily break, have you ever seen what bears can destroy?

The man who plants trees knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has learned the mean of life.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Snowwalker

The man who plants trees knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has learned the mean of life.

---

Im attempting to do this in part because I know years from now the situation at my camp will be significantly different. We will without doubt have lost large portions of the land we currently hunt as its current owners will be gone and the properties will sell. Who knows whaty our new neighbours will think of hunting? My family owns enough land that as long as hunting is legal we can do so, but if me planting apples trees now enriches the hunting for my daughter or any potential grandkids or other family I have down the line then that matters to me.

Im 33. I aint going to be able to crash through the bush in pursuit of deer forever. When im 75 I might just appreciate the deer coming to me. If I have a grandson or granddaughter harvest a deer going for a evening feed under that apple tree I'll be damn proud and sure to tell how the tree got there.

Almost ten years ago I started tossing acorns all around our property. We now have oak trees coming up which we never had prior, providing another crop for the deer down the line which previously didnt exist. Did they come from me? I dont know.

I mean, im also doing it because its fun and will improve the available food for the herd too.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by alfoldivandor

Look the bright side of it .... You will not have to buy a bear bait ....

Just need a good cooler with ice for the meat , and patience to wait for the bears to come ....

Lot of people just see the problems ... And I see just the solution ....

Attachment 38709

---

Thats interesting. I will have to research how to prune in that manner. Thank-you again, your posts have been very helpful.

There are a variety of apple trees, Standard, Semi Dwarf and Dwarf.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jaycee

There are a variety of apple trees, Standard, Semi Dwarf and Dwarf.

---

No idea what the seedstock I have is. Its probably a standard, the tree is fairly large.

Doing some quick reading it is apparently possible to prune to keep any variety low to the ground.

At the very worst the trees I plant at my house will provide me with apples I can take to the camp. Its unlikely bears would ever get at those ones. The trees I plant at the camp probably wont make it to maturity but the cost is essentially free and what do I have to lose?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by blasted_saber

No idea what the seedstock I have is. Its probably a standard, the tree is fairly large.

Doing some quick reading it is apparently possible to prune to keep any variety low to the ground.

At the very worst the trees I plant at my house will provide me with apples I can take to the camp. Its unlikely bears would ever get at those ones. The trees I plant at the camp probably wont make it to maturity but the cost is essentially free and what do I have to lose?

---

The nice thing about apple is pruning will provide addition food source in the winter. A late winter prune not only improves apple production the following year it'll provide browse for deer and rabbit

Pruning of Apple Trees is a must , a the saying goes, "good fruit on old wood will not grow ".

If apple trees are not pruned, they get overgrown and the fruit although will be there it gets small and fewer on the trees.
Unfortunately , apple trees are high maintenance , orchardists around here start pruning in the fall after harvest , all winter long during the dormant period, and also some summer pruning.
My few trees keep me busy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by blasted_saber

Im attempting to do this in part because I know years from now the situation at my camp will be significantly different. We will without doubt have lost large portions of the land we currently hunt as its current owners will be gone and the properties will sell. Who knows whaty our new neighbours will think of hunting? My family owns enough land that as long as hunting is legal we can do so, but if me planting apples trees now enriches the hunting for my daughter or any potential grandkids or other family I have down the line then that matters to me.

Im 33. I aint going to be able to crash through the bush in pursuit of deer forever. When im 75 I might just appreciate the deer coming to me. If I have a grandson or granddaughter harvest a deer going for a evening feed under that apple tree I'll be damn proud and sure to tell how the tree got there.

Almost ten years ago I started tossing acorns all around our property. We now have oak trees coming up which we never had prior, providing another crop for the deer down the line which previously didnt exist. Did they come from me? I dont know.

I mean, im also doing it because its fun and will improve the available food for the herd too.

---

That is kind of the meaning of the Proverb.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Snowwalker

That is kind of the meaning of the Proverb.

---

I know.

Just expanding upon it :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by blasted_saber

I know.

Just expanding upon it :)

---

I was just saying you are right on the money.:thumbup:

I went under a couple of old local apple trees and dug up the whips underneath. They have grown but not maintained. Great Idea about picking the fruit. I would also suggest dormant spray and fertilizing the roots for quicker growth. Lot's of info on the web https://www.groworganic.com/organic-...ruit-trees..as always you tube is your best source of info that is easily ingested and digested lol

BlastedSaber-i have never grown an apple tree.
However i have hunted and i am hunting public land ,where there is abundance of old apple trees.All kinds.
This is what i know ,observing them:
-You plant them as many as You can.The more the merrier-some will die young,some will be eaten by rabbits-some bears will tear up. Strength is in numbers.
-Do not overthink this-You are not planting an orchard,You fend for deer and bear.The more the tree-the less the work-the less the pruning-the more the crop anyway.......if you know what i mean.

The ONLY thing i would advise You from my own thinking is this-Do select apples,which ripen LATE.What is the point (for hunting around them)having a tree dropping ripened apples BEFORE the season.They may feed the deer and the bear,they may even hold them there-but You may not benefit from hunting around them.
Enjoy............

grafting is the quickest way to have fruit

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by js4fn

grafting is the quickest way to have fruit

---

What?

Grafting on to what? You still have to plant a tree to be able to graft on to it. You cannot graft apples on to spruce, you still need an apple tree of some sort there for root stock. I work with a guy who grafts, he used a crab apple for grafting, the thing did not work worth a damn, goes with known root stock now but you still have to put it in the ground and let it grow.

BlastedSaber, wrap the trunk with protection from rodents, they are cheap and will save your tree from girdling. You may lose the tree due to bears, they are bad, we had a crab apple tree that had apples 1 year and had half of the limbs ripped off it due to a bear.

The problem with planting a tree is that they need attention to make sure they make it through the first year, regular water and pulling the weeds to allow the tree to have the nutrients and not the weeds/grass. People will tell me I am full of crap because they have wild apple trees but think about it, with all the apple seeds and all the apple starts there is 1 or 2 wild trees, there would be thousands if they all came up. If you are just planting 1 or 2 then a loss of 1 or two would be huge, planting 1000 and losing 1 or 2 would be no big deal.