Hello! my name is Rubi, and i am very glad that i found this website, i do not really want to start with questions but thats the reason i looked for a forum, have please a little patience with me as i not know anything about trees...
We just bougth a house in utah which is in zone 5 as i found out, this house has several trees, the majority of them being aspen and pine trees, but there is this area of the house where 6 young trees have been left to grow tha way they please, we found out with a neighbor that those were planted last spring (2011) and are 2 apples, 2 cherry and 4 peaches, my little knoledge tells me that i have to trim them so they develop a good frame and i already had read a lot about it but still i am afraid i cut the wrong limbs on them hurting their shape still more, beside that these trees have a sorrounding wire fence that is cramping them ( i think this is due to the deer since our house is up in the mountains and there is a lot), so my questions are:
how do i correct them if i can still do that
how do i spray them (their leaves are being eaten by some bugs)
how do i fertilize them
how often do i water them
do i take the wire off
how do i post some pics of them
Thanks in advance for your time
Rubi
I would keep the protection, or make something a little bigger, until the trees get above deer browse height unless you are planning to put a deer fence around the perimeter of the whole area.
Some of the peaches look a little crowded. I don't know much about peach pruning, so will defer to others to comment. I understand they need pretty aggressive pruning to keep the leafing and fruiting portion closer to the trunk and ground.
The apples look good to my eye.
That cherry must be on an extremely size controlling root stock. That may need permanent caging.
we are already making arrangements for a fence, the apples seem good but they are showing upright growing with no branching to develop the central leader form, and for the peaches yes they are crowded, should i wait until they loose all leaves to cut the main branch to make the open center..... and the comment about the cherry did not understand as i do not know anything about roots, but i do know that all these trees are dwarf....
Once you get your fence up you can spread those apple limbs by tying them down to stakes or fence posts, or something heavy on the ground. Some people like to use suspended weights but I don't because they seem like they'd need more attention. Aim for 45 degrees or so.
On the cherry I was just saying it looks like it must be a super dwarf because it is so small yet healthy looking, and that it will probably never be tall enough to be above deer browse height. But I didn't read very carefully. If they were planted just a year ago then it may have just spent some time overcoming transplant shock and getting established.
Good plan for the fence, once you’ve got some posts further out you can tie and spread some of the branches to the posts to better shape the trees; but I’d hold off on the tying till they’re dormant. The trees should have been pruned (or trimmed) when dormant.. Now’s not a good time, they’ve put all of their energy into the leaves and removing them would lessen their energy collecting ability.
The reason for pruning or thinning is to force the new growth into the limbs you want to form the tree and not bush out in all directions. Actually, they look fine for their age, it’s more important their roots get fed; you’ve got plenty of time to shape them.
Cherry trees are very vigorous and difficult to keep ‘small.’ Each of these trees have been grafted to a rootstock or another ‘tree’ (that now only provides the roots) that will limit their size. It appears your cherry tree’s on a very limiting rootstock, which is rare for cherries. Perhaps it’s a pie cherry, slightly smaller trees than sweet cherries.
I’d just keep them protected, if there are deer in the vicinity – those are the biggest threat to your trees. I’m not familiar with your soil, insects or moisture conditions so shouldn’t advise much beyond decent watering. The foliage looks healthy ..so if there’s no insect damage, I wouldn’t worry about spraying.
Release-time is tricky with fertilizers.. if you get a ‘slow release’ fertilizer that triggers new growth late in the season that could set them up for frost damage this winter. Fruit trees need to slow up their growth and ‘harden off’ for winter at the proper time to avoid such damage.
I think you’re on top of it – and am glad to see you’re giving them the care they deserve. I’d just wait until January of next year to remove spindly limbs from the trunks and leave some main limbs to expand their size. ..though peach trees should be pruned after they bloom, as I’ve learned ‘up here.’ That limits the disease a bit.
I used to live in Provo, Utah and worked for home-owners with fruit trees there.
To people who read this forum, though, they might think Provo (at 4,000 ft. elevation) is in the mountains but to a Utah person to say they live in the mountains means something different. I think you probably mean you are at an even higher elevation.....and are up in an area like Heber or Park City.
One good place to start for you is to find your local county extension service and talk to a master gardener there.....or better yet, talk to the actual paid extension agent who has the most professional knowledge.
http://extension.usu.edu/htm/counties
Your trees don't look badly neglected at all to me....they look great.....and I think Viron is right on......for most homeowners with large trees this time of the year (summer) is the right time to try to contain the trees and de-stimulate growth by pruning....but for you with those small trees this is NOT the time to prune and it is better to try to let them grow......think about pruning them in late February or March for what little pruning you will do then.
A bigger concern I have is your watering plan.
A Portland person only now needs to think about watering his fruit trees for July and August as we have had plenty (and then some) of rain already. But for a Utah person you need to make sure these little trees need some sort of watering program. It looks like you already have one......and the exact method and timing depends on whether you are using a hose, a soaker hose, or drip irrigation. Talk with a local extension agent about what is appropriate for your area....it looks to me like what you have been doing already is fine....but the main idea you are headed for is that as the trees become bigger you will head toward watering them less often than you do your lawn and more with deep well watering to develop the roots.....maybe once a week watering.....but for right now when the trees are small you might have to modify that and water a little more often and a little more shallow....again, someone locally may have a better idea on that....but whatever you have been doing is probably good.
I am confidant that you are someone who can really do well with those trees
thanks all of you for your advice and time, a couple of things
-i actually live in the south of provo, elk ridge to be exact and indeed is at higher elevation...
-i water the trees with a hose 1 time a week but they might need a lot more water
-one of the cherry trees had been tied with a wire and it grew over it, there is no way to cut it since it seems it was tied to hard, now is a ring in the trunk of the cherry, could this be damaging the tree
-one of the apple trees has been trimmed on the leader ( deer maybe) does this means that it wont grow up anymore?
-the other apple has all of the lower branches cut, and just three uppers remain, do you think it would grow more branches in the lower part ?
i think that having fruit trees is complicated but i will try to follow on your advice.
yes....the trees are forgiving and will send up new growth that you can work with....
yes....fruit trees are complicated when you talk to fruit tree buffs.......but apologies if we make it sound complicated.....
it can be fairly simple...... and rewarding.
You could do me a favor if you wanted and find out for me who the Horticultural Extension agent is now......his office should be right there in downtown Provo in a basement office but you could just call......hopefully funding cuts haven't done away with his job.
(801) 851-8462
My email address is donricks@hotmail.com It has been years since I lived there.
You are in luck in that your county probably has a special hort agent because Payson and Santaquin grow a lot of fruit......in fact, for the first time ever (because, I think, Michigan has a poor year this year) Utah will have more sour cherries this year than any other state in the country.....at least this is what I've heard......so you have some expertise there.
Idyllwild
simplepress
jafar
Marsha H
Viron
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