fruit trees on sale at Home Depot

Last night I went to Home Depot and (again) ended up in the plants on sale! They have fruit trees and ornamental trees on sale for $13.88. There were apple trees, plum trees, pear trees and peach trees- all dwarf trees. I wanted peach trees - and there were three different kinds: J.H. Hale, Georgia Belle and Elberta. I bought two of the Elbertas, mostly because it was the only name I had heard of before and the tag said "large Freestone, sweet flesh" and "tasty, edible fruit".

The guy at the store told me that everybody buys dwarf fruit trees because it is too difficult to pick the fruit from trees that are 30 feet tall! He said that the dwarf trees are more manageable because they only grow to 10-12 feet tall. He also said that the fruit will be full size - just the trees will be dwarfed.

Do you agree with this? Any suggestions before I plant these trees this weekend?

Thanks in advance for your help,
Cindy Lou

He was correct. I like the Georgia Belle, which is a white-fleshed freestone, very juicy.

I'd love to have a couple of plum trees when I get a new home.

And where will your new home be? Hopefully, not too far from where you are now so you can uproot some of your plants and take them with you! :-)

The instructions say to dig a hole 3 times as wide and as deep as the root ball (which is a 3 gal black bucket?) and mix in Miracle Gro, etc. I have a nice batch of composted soil ready to find a new home, so I thought I would mix the compost soil in equal parts to the native dirt I dig up, and fill the hole back in that way.

I guess my question is, should I loosen up the dirt around the roots any or should I just pull her out of the black bucket and sink her in the ground like she is?

Thanks,

Cindy Lou

Two things... first look for roots that encircle the plant. ALWAYS untangle them!If you are careful, you can do it without breaking any roots.

Second, with or without any encircling roots, I always take my hands and loosen the root ball a bit. Just seems to help.

If there seems to be an excess of winding roots you can trim them back to a more managable length. This is known as root pruning as serves only to make more roots grow quickly. Often this is just what a transplanted tree, shrub, etc. needs to get it off to a good start. Do make that hole LARGE. It is correctly said that you should dig a $10 hole for a $1 plant/tree/shrub, etc. Do use your nice loose compost to help fill in the hole. Water well every day unless it rains at least 1/2" that day for the first week. In fact, I find it is wise to fill the empty hole with water, let it drain out naturally, fill it again, then put the plant down into the water and begin to fill in the hole with the filling material. Tamp the soil lightly and water again when you are finished to get the air pockets completely removed around the roots. Letting the water drain out naturally will let you know just how long it takes for water to perculate thru the soil in that spot so you can better judge the watering needs of what you just planted.

Most of the citrus grown now is on shorter root stock. Most people prefer shorter trees. It's actually strange now to be driving and pass a grow that still has full size trees.

Tamara