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mstywoods

fruit trees

mstywoods
13 years ago

I've never planted fruit trees before, and don't know a lot about their requirements. I've heard that some trees require another in order to pollinate. We bought a peach, pear and apple tree from Home Depot a few weeks back. I asked the guy there if I needed two of the same type of tree for any of these, and he said he thought all you needed was just any other type of fruit tree, but not necessarily the same type of fruit. I wasn't so sure he knew exactly what he was talking about, and he admitted he only had some training in gardening, but I went ahead and bought the three different types of fruit.

Will this work, or do I need another of the same fruit for any of these trees? I now have a BOGO offer from Home Depot, so I can pick up another one or two if I need it!

Thanks!!

Marj

Comments (10)

  • david52 Zone 6
    13 years ago

    Quite a few fruit trees are self-pollinated, which means you're ok, but others are not - Google "fruit tree pollination chart" and the first one up is a .pdf that gives an idea of what works and what doesn't. Or google up the specific variety of tree you bought and the word pollinator.

    But generally, an apple needs another variety of apple, a cherry another type of cherry.

  • ianb_co
    13 years ago

    You may well be OK. Apples fruit better with other trees around, but decorative crabapples can pollinize fruit apples. Pears can be self-pollinizing, depending on the variety, and most peaches are. Pears can have a hard time attracting bees, so you may want to have something else in bloom nearby to draw them in.

    Here's a link to CSU's page on fruit tree pollination. Also, if you search the site for "fruit trees", you'll pull up a bunch of useful pages. You may also want to read up on fire blight, a problem on the front range (if that's where you are).

    Ian

    Here is a link that might be useful: CSU pollination page

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    13 years ago

    If you happen to have a neighbor nearby that has whatever pollinator you need, it'll work.

    Skybird

  • david52 Zone 6
    13 years ago

    This reminds me of a story I was told by a friend who grew up way out near the Utah border on an isolated farm, and they'd planted an orchard. Peaches and apples did well, but they never had luck with their two cherry trees in something like 50 years - a few cherries, never very many.

    Then they found out that they needed a specific pollinator and planted one, and three years later, when the thing bloomed and the older trees were cross-pollinated, they had bushels and bushels of cherries.

    Then they moved.

  • Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
    13 years ago

    Your care of these trees is quite different and you will have to get used to the fact that if you don't do dormant spraying, you may very well not have a crop next year. And this zone is difficult anyway with stone frs as late frosts kill chances of a crop. But sanitation and spraying are key and must be done.

    Dan

  • david52 Zone 6
    13 years ago

    Dan, I missed dormant spraying before they flowered, can I do it now? Before they leaf out and the weather warms up?

  • mstywoods
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Well, gosh. I think we may just go with the ones we have now and see how they do in the next couple of years. Then plant one or another variety if it looks like that's what we need. #1 reason we planted the trees was to replace the aspens that had been growing there, and we wanted trees that didn't grow too big and would provide a bit of screening. The fruit part was the icing on the cake, and would be really nice if it happens, but not the total reason for planting them.

    The varieties we got are Vivid Peach, Eve Braeburn Apple, and Bosc Pear.

    Thanks for the advice!

  • Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
    13 years ago

    Make it quick David. Better late than never.

    Dan

  • david52 Zone 6
    13 years ago

    I'll do it today. We have snow in the forecast again later this week......

  • david52 Zone 6
    13 years ago

    Eh - I got the last qt of dormant oil in the shop, and sprayed all the trees focusing on the gnobbly parts and cracks, and I'm probably too late since I saw lots of ants climbing up and around the trees - which means they have their aphids to care for.

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