kwillia said:My mom planted 3 apple trees in her yard at her previous house years back. Fruit trees are a lot of work. You have to keep them pruned. You have to keep them de-bugged. You will have lots and lots of bees. You will have lots and lots of rotting fruit on the ground which usually means you will be visited by skunks and coons and such as well.
My fruit trees came w/the house. They were neglected for 25+ yrs., I put 4 yrs. into them-to no avail. Pruning, non-poisonous spraying, tending, even had 4 hives on the property to help w/the pollination-lots of apples but very few edibles.jazz lady said:I don't find fruit trees that much work. Prune them once a year, spray with dormant oil spray in late winter/early spring, thin the flowers so you get bigger fruit, and spray with a general purpose spray like Rotenone/Pyrethrin every couple of weeks and a fungicide if needed every once in awhile.
Trees that have been neglected for that long are almost impossible to get back into shape. They have to be pruned and tended to every year else the fruit-bearing wood gets unmanageable.Lilypad said:My fruit trees came w/the house. They were neglected for 25+ yrs., I put 4 yrs. into them-to no avail. Pruning, non-poisonous spraying, tending, even had 4 hives on the property to help w/the pollination-lots of apples but very few edibles.
I just enjoy my magnolias and hollies instead, and forget about the fruit bearing trees.
tikipirate said:Why apples? (Yawn.) They do better in a cooler climate anyway, as do pears. Around here, I would go for peaches, or my favorite, pluots.
I've had quite the opposite luck. My apple trees bore huge crops every year. :shrug:Vince said:I've had apple trees around for about 15 years now. When these folks say they are alot of work and a pain in the azz, they aren't kidding. And sometimes you get nothing. I've had 6 trees on the property and two of them have yet to bare fruit of any size or amount. They are not worth the trouble.
No, they are not "male" and "female" - you need to plant two different varieties for pollination. Asian pears are very disease resistant and very good producers. I had two at my old house (Hosui and New Century from Stark Brothers) and the biggest problem I ever had with them was the squirrels.Planted a few Asian pear apple trees some years ago and that's the best trees I have, but you have to plant the "male" and "female" trees because they have to cross pollinate. Great apples. The one tree has an apple more along the lines of a golden delicious and the other has a brown skinned apple that tastes like a pear.
I posted this above:Abby said:Can you tell me what you do to take care of them, since you have had luck with them?
I don't find fruit trees that much work. Prune them once a year, spray with dormant oil spray in late winter/early spring, thin the flowers so you get bigger fruit, and spray with a general purpose spray like Rotenone/Pyrethrin every couple of weeks and a fungicide if needed every once in awhile.
Spraying with Rotenone/Pyrethrin is the best thing I've found for getting rid of beetles. If applied regularly, the beetles never are a problem.Have you had any problems with beetles?
I don't think it's a good idea to use your teeth that way.Abby said:Mine will be mostly red for the proper amount of sugar, although one or two greens would be good because I love them. I have no problem with pruning and caring for trees- I've always had a green thumb. My only real concern is attracting too many bug to my property, but I intend to plant bug repellant plants and spray with homemade/organic pesticides. Will that be enough? Maybe. Don't know until I try, but the thought of ripping out trees I've cared for because of pests just makes my teeth hurt.