Planting apple trees in Central Ontario

[SongDog]

I'm thinking about buying some apple tree saplings and plant them at our hunt camp which is just south of North Bay.

Can't say I've ever seen an apple tree in the area, But they should grow.

Any type of apple tree I should look at or is it a waste of time?

[Marker]

I have planted many apples, also Oaks, Chestnuts (Dunstan), and pear.

There are a few strategies to use to acheive some hopes of success. Pleanting fruit or nut trees in the wild can be best described as the expectaion of failure with small succusses. I ususly plant a few hundred seeds and get about half dozen seedlings the next year, squirels take most seeds, raccons pull the whole thing out og the ground, and deer eat the seedlings to the ground.

1. Use a tree tube, even if planting a seed. Bury the bottom of the tube about 6 inches in the ground.
2. Plant when the tree is dormant, from fall to spring.
3. Plant a cold hardy tree in the right soil, if you put any plant in the wrong soil or cold zone it will have trouble growing, plant it in the right conditions and you wont stop it from growing.
4. Plant a lot and be happy with a few successful trees the following year.

Its easy to start your own trees from seed and its free, simply take the seeds from an apple core and stratify them in the fridge for a few days then transfer to the field or start them in a pot for seedlings.

My strategy is to do the following:

Year 1 plant Apples, Oaks, Chestnuts.
Years 1-5 bait with corn
Years 5-15 hunt the apples when they are fruiting
Years 15+ hunt the Oaks/Chestnuts when fruiting

[73hunter]

To build on Marker’s suggestion….some protection like chicken wire around the saplings might help….I imagine rabbits, deer and others would find apple saplings tasty ?

[dean.f]

To build on Marker’s suggestion….some protection like chicken wire around the saplings might help….I imagine rabbits, deer and others would find apple saplings tasty ?

We learned this, deer eat the tips right off them. Added snow fencing around them.

[Marker]

Any type of apple tree I should look at or is it a waste of time?

1. Cold hardy - Mac or Spy
2. Check if self polinating, or cross polinating and if so plant close enough so bees can polinate (add a crab apple to the mix for polination)
3. Not a dwarf tree, full size is preferable
4. Avoid grafted trees, the root stock may be cold hardy but the top section may not be

[werner.reiche]

To build on Marker’s suggestion….some protection like chicken wire around the saplings might help….I imagine rabbits, deer and others would find apple saplings tasty ?

Use the white tree wrap to protect against mice, and snow fencing or corncrib fencing to protect against deer. The deer fence should be about 4 feet in diameter.
If you're not going to do the above, don't bother with planting the trees.

[finsfurfeathers]

4. Avoid grafted trees, the root stock may be cold hardy but the top section may not be

I'd learn to graft. Once establish can graft multiple varieties on one tree and have successional drop all season. Not for deer but in my back yard have apples that will ripen from end of august till well after dec.

[greatwhite]

It takes like 10 - 15 years+ for a regular Apple tree to mature and produce. If I plant apple trees I would want dwarf or semi dwarf which produces fruit in less than 5 years

[Pioneerfreq]

Beautiful Field Farm only carry varieties that do well in the Sudbury area. Have a look and see what varieties they carry.
https://beautifulfieldfarm.com/

[Marker]

It takes like 10 - 15 years+ for a regular Apple tree to mature and produce. If I plant apple trees I would want dwarf or semi dwarf which produces fruit in less than 5 years

Yes a dwarf is good in a back yard where the sun can get to it but not in a forest canopy, the trees need to get up high to get sunlight otherwise they do not do well.