Planting Apple Trees
All apple trees need a rest period. They must have many hours of cool winter weather with below 48°F during which they are dormant. However, there is an enormous range in this requirement, so there are varieties suitable for any climate except subtropical and low desert regions.
Apples prefer full sun but can still produce fruit with only five to six hours of sun a day. They will grow in most types of soil that is slightly acidic (pH 6.0 to 6.5). In central and northern areas of the U.S., plant dormant apple trees in the spring. Where winters are mild, it is advisable to plant them in the fall, but the tree must be dormant.
Plant dwarf apples 8 to 10 feet apart and keep grass away from the trunk as far as the dripline. These trees will bear fruit their first year and the average yield from an established dwarf tree is 60 to 120 apples or 24 to 48 pounds of fruit.
Semi-dwarfs will bear fruit in three to six years. The average yield in a year is about 350 apples or 144 pounds of fruit. Make sure to plant semi-dwarfs 18 to 20 feet apart.
Standard trees are the most vigorous, yet are slowest to bear fruit. They eventually yield heavy crops. Average yield is 1,200 to 1,800 apples or 480 to 720 pounds. Plant standards 30 to 35 feet apart.
FULL DETAILS FOR HOW TO PROPERLY PLANT AN APPLE TREE OR ANY TREE ARE FOUND IN THE LANDSCAPE SECTION; CLICK HERE
Additives When Planting Apple Tree
There are three products we strongly recommend you include in the hole before planting. They are Actinovate which is a new biological fungicide. By including it in the hole the tree is already protected from attack by root disease.
Thrive is a new soil and plant additive that contains all kinds of beneficial microbes including those very valuable root fungi. This gives the tree a really good start.
Seaweed extract will help reduce the stress of planting and get the tree to growing sooner.
Caring For Apple Trees
Spray program – January or February is the time to spray all fruit trees with dormant oil or all season horticultural oil (2.5 ounces per gallon of water) to smother eggs of pest insects over-wintering on the bark of the tree. Spray the entire tree, but make sure not to spray when the temperature is below 40F. You want to finish this job at least three weeks before the leaf buds begin to show.
Fertilizing After young apple trees have been in place in the yard for a year, they can be fertilized annually. In the spring before the leaves pop, sprinkle a slow-acting, general purpose granular fertilizer on the soil under the tree out as far as the branches reach (the drip-line). If a standard tree grows 8 to 15 inches at the branch tips over the season, it is receiving adequate fertilizer. Branch growth on a dwarf or semi-dwarf of 6 to 10 inches indicates a healthy growth rate and proper fertilization.