I've wanted to plant fruit trees since we moved to this property 10 years ago. We tried to go the less expensive way and buy bare root trees. We brought them home and immediately placed them into water for 12-24 hours, as was suggested by the producer. Then we planted them.
They Died.
The next year we tried again. Again we followed the producers instructions, even check marking off at each step. AND!
They Died.
I gave up. Well obviously not entirely, cause fast forward to this year - 2011. I was driving past the farmer style store (obviously not fast enough - I'll have to work on that.) on my way home about a month ago, and there was a sign calling out my name: "Fruit and Shade Trees." I stopped and talked to the man in the greenhouse area. They were NOT bare root. They were three years old. They looked healthy. They were budding out appropriately for the time of season. They were outside, and had been outside for several weeks. I left.
I obsessed about them for two more weeks. I went back to the farmers style store. I bought six trees.
- 1 Sweet Sixteen Apple
- 1 Granny Smith Apple
- 1 Lapin Cherry
- 1 Rainier Cherry
- 1 Bartlett Pear
- 1 Sungold Apricot
We planted them yesterday.
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| Quincy helped. |
Oh, and this time we used a Miracle Grow product to "fix" the roots system and help them establish easier.
I still need to buy and plant:
- 1 more Apricot - for cross pollination. They didn't have another type, so I didn't buy a second.
- 1 more Pear - for cross pollination. Same deal.
- 2 plums - I want one Italian and one Red type.
I'll be watching, and watering and worrying about them for quite awhile. Sure hope this works.
Oh, and we also decided to plant a couple children to see if they would grow more:
1 Boy Tree1 Girl Tree
Yeah, cause that's what we need. More children.
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