Zone 5 Dwarf Cherry, Peach, Apple Trees. Help

I want to plant some of the above trees. There are just 2 of us, so I don't want an over abundance of fruit..but do want fresh and some to freeze and give away. Do you have any reccommendations on what I should plant? Can I just plant one of each kind? Do Dwarf really mean dwarf...are will they eventually get really big?

I realize I have a lot of questions...but I need to get these on order. Any other advice will be gladly accepted. Thanks, Deb

Dwarf Normally means a shrub sized tree. Other than birds eating the fruit cherries are relatively free of insect pests. Peaches and espescially apples are another story. It can be done, but for most folks a spray program for peaches and apples becomes necessary. Also keep in mind that the dwarf trees are not quite as durable as full size or in the case of apples, full size or semi-dwarf. Both apples and peaches are very messy yard trees, so be prepared to be constantly picking up drops.

Deb,
My mother had a Dwarf Bing Cherry Tree that left alone would have gotten between 15' to 20'. According to a local nurseryman, since cherry trees can get over 40' tall, 18' is dwarf. That was years ago. Bing was one of the first cherry trees to be dwarfed. There is a greater variety now. If you want only one tree, be sure to get a variety that is self pollenizing. You won't get as many as you would with a pollenizer, but you will get some cherries.

Depending on the dwarfing stock, you can get almost any sized apple tree. RainTree Nursery even has miniature apple trees. Find out what varieties are recommended for your area from your local extension agent. Many varieties are available grafted on a number of different dwarfing stock. Here's an example;
http://www.raintreenursery.com/how_to/ROOT_APPL.html
Their catalog has a chart showing the size each variety they sell on different root stock. I've bought many of my fruit trees from them. Some apple trees are self-pollenizing. Most are not. As Farmerdill says, they will need spraying unless you don't mind wormy apples. One last thing, if you have cedar and cedar rust within a 3 mile radius, you may want to reconsider growing apples.

Some peach varieties are more resistant to diseases than others. Again check with your local extension agent for those recommended for your area. As with most fruit trees, you will need to spray with a dormant oil specifically for fruit trees to get rid of any insect eggs and larva. A spray regiment against peach leaf curl and brown rot, the most common peach problems, but that usually only three times during winter.

For 22 years, I lived in a house with a postage stamp yard so all, except one large shade tree, my trees were dwarf or semi-dwarf fruit trees. Fruit drop was not all that bad. All you need is a good rake and a flat shovel, but the rewards of having fresh fruit far outweigh the the problems. Taking proper care of the trees and some preventative measures usually prevents most problems.

Deb,
I planted two dwarf peach trees in 2001. They bore fruit the next year. Variety makes a difference in height. The Earliglo has stayed a nice size. The Elberta Queen is very upright and has needed some pruning.

You didn't specify whether you wanted a pie cherry or sweet cherry. Pie cherries are easier to grow. Birds, flies, and other problems are worse for the sweet ones. North Star cherry is small and very nice for pies.

Dwarf apple trees do not have sturdy root stock and need bracing for several years. I like the semi-dwarf and full size, but they require definite pruning.

As Farmer Dill said ...Insect control and brown rot control are needed for peaches. Insect control is needed for apples.

Stark Bros. Nursery is in Missouri and has done ok for me....and some garden centers have some good buys but not so good variety choices.

A good all around apple for juice, cooking and eating fresh is Yellow Delicious. Peach trees in Zone 5 just don't do too well. Sweet cherries seem to get a fungus if not sprayed. My neighbors have a very old tree sandwiched between two houses. It's a semi dwarf. When I was a kid, my friend had a standard size cherry. Boy was it tall. My parents had good luck with the pie cherry.

I recently placed an order at Stark Bros. https://www.starkbros.com/index.jsp for a dwarft Intrepid Peach, among other things - listed as hardiness zones 4-8. Also listed as "a late bloomer, boasts extreme hardiness, and has been known to withstand freezing temperatures at half to full bloom with little or no damage." I like the late bloomer part as last frost around here is a variable term :-) Of course, some of that is "seller's hype", I'm sure. And, of course, I won't know how it turns out for a few years. Also ordered a Hardired Dwarft Nectarine. Both of those are self polinating, so you could get just one of each.

There seems to be apples for every possible zone - but most are not self polinating - meaning you have to have two different kinds, unless you have neighbors within about 1/4 mile with something compatible. Usually the catalogs will tell you what will be a good polinator of what. I don't know what I'm going to do with apples from two trees, even though they are both dwart.

Another thing to consider is when the harvest time is. It may not be the same in your area as listed in the catalog, but should be realative - i.e. if all your trees are said to ripen in late August, well, you'll be running around like crazy at some point in time when everything ripens at once. If, however, some ripen in July, some in August, and something else in September, then even if they don't ripen in those months, at least your harvest will be spread out over several months.

I am supposing that even one tree of any type of fruit will be more than enough for two people for whatever their needs. My "orchard" will consist of 4 trees for 2 people, by the time they begin to bare. I'm sure that's going to be way overkill. But there is nothing like a tree-ripened peach (ok, except for a vine-ripened tomato).

Good luck!

Okay...I ordered the following from Starks Bro's

Stark SweetHeart Dwarf Apricot
Burbank July Elberta Peach Dwarf
Starkrimson Sweet Cherry Dwarf

These are all suppose to be self-pollinating.

They arrived in great shape and I have them in the ground.

I also ordered Heritage Red Raspberry and
Starkrimson Rhubarb

Thanks for all your help. I still need to order an apple tree, just haven't decided yet.

Deb

My trees from Stark's also arrived in good shape. The "Hardy Missouri" pecans and my 3 Heritage Red Raspberries are "healed in" in some buckets of damp sand waiting for the weekend, but my nectarine, peach and two apples are in the ground. The daffodils are blooming and that always makes me want to plant, plant and plant some more! Tomorrow the trunks will get a white-wash of 50% strength white latex paint and will get chicken wire circles 1 ft deep, 2 ft tall and 3 ft diameter. Hope it's not too late for the fencing - I know the rabbits are already out and about and eyeing anything green. There's a bunch of weeds/wild flowers and sage greening up right now. Hoping the critters will desire those instead of freshly planted fruit trees :-)

Hi everybody, am I’m glad I found you! I’m in need of expert help because on a whim in March I bought a $16.99 dwarf red delicious apple tree from HD. It is now planted it in the NE corner of my backyard. Of course, only after planting it did I realize that it needed a pollinator. So, I ordered two dwarf apple trees (a Granny Smith and a Staymen Winesap for $7.50) from AutumnSpring Nurseries in TN. The two trees arrived along with a free seedless blackberry plant. When received the apple trees looked totally dead and I was ready to complain to the Nursery but my wife looked at them we decided to plant them all in 10 inch self-watering easy grow pots with MG.

This last week the apple trees started to leaf and the blackberry is looking real nice. I really don't want to dig another hole in this clay soil this year and think I should let these plants establish themselves for awhile in their 10 inch pots. One reason I’m picking your brains is that I’m thinking of using $5.00 30-GL plastic yard-waste buckets hat I have as planters. Are those buckets OK or should I look for a better alternative? I’ve seen trees in nurseries planted in 30 - 50 gallon containers. I feel the 30-GL plastic yard-waste buckets are the most economical way to go for this learning experience.

Bear in mind that I’m essentially a rookie, less than 2 years gardening experience, and less than that with homebuilt self- waters. I am learning so much from DG I’m still a work in process (WIP). I just hope not to make the same mistake twice.

OK, here is what I plan on doing:

1. Use rectangular (16 x 17) inch Styrofoam containers that hold 3 gallons of of water as reservoirs.

2. Create a PVC self-watering/aeration system (0.75” wick tube and a 1.5” aeration tube – both L shaped) buried at planting time with the dwarf apple trees fed from the top of the planter to keep from having to cut the poly plastic leaf-buckets.

3. Research how to stake potted trees.

4. Keep the blackberry plant in its 10” pot. Are they climber or bush? I don’t know anything about them.

Thanks in advance as all comments and responses are welcome.

Bernie

I don't know about planting them in pots, but they are supposed to look mostly dead when you get them by mail order. If they've started leafing out when shipped, then they use up their energy. Since they are dormant when they get put to post, and hopefully stuffed with damp newspaper or some such to keep them from drying out, they look pretty disappointing when you get them. DH can't believe that in 2 - 4 years (depending on the weather, me and The Powers That Be), we'll be getting fruit from the 3 ft "twigs" we stuck in the ground.

If you didn't get dwarf or semi-dwarf apple trees, I hope you have a BIG yard. They can get huge. Of course, they won't get huge in a pot - but then again, I have tried to garden in adobe clay in CA, and they might be better off in the trash cans - good soil, good drainage.

Did you see if the trees you ordered would bloom about the same time as the one you already had? This will make a difference in polination, too.

"Whims" at HD always tend to lead me down the path of spending more money :-) A simple $3 birdfeeder and a $3 bag of sunflower seeds and then suddenly I had 4 feeders, 2 suet feeders and was buying seeds in 25 lb bags - so I could support the neighborhood through sleet and snow. Not to mention the wading out in the snow to fill the feeders. All for a whim that cost just over $5 at HD! Good luck with your trees.

Kmom246, Admittedly, this is a whimsical project and I also agree with you that many whimsical projects get out of hand and that is why I'm trying to use things I have on hand.. But, I also know that I've learned a lot of new thing by stepping outside the box- leaving my comfort zone behind.

NO, I did not check bloom times probably because I was too tied after digging the hole or because I thought all apple trees bloomed at the same time. I also have a crabapple tree in my front yard. Nor do I have a large yard-hence the containers.



Thanks for responding, keep nin touch especially if you think of something to help make this project successful.

Bernie

I believe crab apples will also polinate regular apples. Also, if there are people with compatible apple trees withing 1/4 mile or so, you should get some cross polination. Sounds like you will have lots of fun with your mini orchard.

The berries will produce long canes that go up and then arch over. Don't know if they will produce in a 10" pot. They can get pretty big. I would say to at least put them in a 5 gal bucket - like the bright orange ones at our favorite HD. Not sure how you would trellis them or if you would even need to if they were contained. They don't twine around a trellis like a morning glory plant would, so if you do trellis them, you will have to tie them. If left to their own devices, bberry plants can take over everything - your yard, walkways, fences, etc. There are wild bberry brambles along some of the irrigation ditches in the Central Valley in CA that are easily 30 ft wide by 100 ft long. The birds just love them. In GA there were some "cultivated escapees" near our trailer and they were in big mounds about 20 ft in diameter. Of course, the wild ones don't get pruned and the birds get to them before the humans, but if you can get your hands on some, they are the sweetest things. Here's a page with basic bberry care: http://greenwoodnursery.com/page.cfm/24372

I have 3 brand new Herritage Red Raspberry plants that I am hoping to grow into a nice 20 ft hedge over the years. Keeping them from escaping to places not wanted will be a challenge. I am hoping the birds will not seed them all over the place, too. I'm going to use bird netting over the plants and hopefully get to have some for myself :-)

Have fun!

alpha537,
Winesap apple trees are usually not much help in pollinating other apple trees. Perhaps the crab apple will help. Granny Smith's are difficult to ripen in northern areas.

If all else fails and in 3-5 years you still have no apples, they will at the very least make a beautiful "welcome to spring" display with their flowers :-)

Well, gotta go - the birds are screaming at me (notice, they are not singing) - I am late putting out breakfast today!

Take care. Karla

Getting a 4 or 5 way fruit tree solves the pollinating problem, I have a 4 way pear that does great, bought a 4 way apple this year, has granny smith, macintosh, golden delicious and fuji.

plant the apricot on the north side of a building!
we have a small dwarf fruit orchard and spray all summer-if you ever need help just email me!