cynthia_h, thank for your concern. Problem is my apple trees are diseased and my old age, I really don't want to be bothered with tall trees knowing every year, I must hire people to prune.
With money I end up paying to people for pruning, I can buy more than enough organic fresh apples for life because I have organic fruits and vegetable delivering service call 'Door to Door organic fruits/vegetable delivery' in winter time.
I am thinking about planting miniture or dwarf apple trees to replace my diseased trees but it is necessary for me to check soil before plant new trees because I don't want new trees to have same disease.
Needless to say, diseases can be controled by spraying.
I just don't want to spend $$$ to hire people knowing there is no guarantee to have decent fruits.
Dwarf apple trees grow 8'-10'. I wish I can find miniture apple trees to bear enough apples.
Single stemed apple trees only grow 8' but not enough fruits.
Training apple trees horizontally is interesting.
Maybe I should try.
Oh, I am confused what I really want now.
One thing is sure, I don't want tall standard size trees anymore.
DoubleDogFarm, thank you for reading my message.
I know it is too much.
Pruning 2 Asian pears, 2 apple trees, and one persimmon tree is $1500.
I guess when people are professional, they can ask for top $$$$$ plus one of my apple tree is super giant and takes long hours to prune.
Like I said, I cannot afford it.
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Sunflower7
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- Location: Pennsylvania in USA
You say that your trees are diseased Sunflower...what is the disease?
Unless it is soil based there is no reason why you cannot re-plant on the same sites, and even then if the trees you plan to plant are high worked on their union they should be ok.
As to age ...I'm 71 but still quite able to deal with my oldest trees which are over 80 years old.
As to time taken.
Just because a tree is tall it doesn't mean that it will take hours to prune.
I don't think that you would want such a tree to be spur pruned which would be the only method to take such a long time.
When you talk of single stem trees I guess you mean columnia trees.?
Pretty trees but still very limited in their varieties...and expensive.
A standard centre leader tree growing eight to ten feet and with a six foot spread all round would give you up to 60 odd pounds of fruit each year.What could be easier?
Still think those old girls are worth having a go at though....
Unless it is soil based there is no reason why you cannot re-plant on the same sites, and even then if the trees you plan to plant are high worked on their union they should be ok.
As to age ...I'm 71 but still quite able to deal with my oldest trees which are over 80 years old.
As to time taken.
Just because a tree is tall it doesn't mean that it will take hours to prune.
I don't think that you would want such a tree to be spur pruned which would be the only method to take such a long time.
When you talk of single stem trees I guess you mean columnia trees.?
Pretty trees but still very limited in their varieties...and expensive.
A standard centre leader tree growing eight to ten feet and with a six foot spread all round would give you up to 60 odd pounds of fruit each year.What could be easier?
Still think those old girls are worth having a go at though....
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Sunflower7
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Cynthia_h, thank you for your concern.
My main reason to get rid of huge apple tree is thousands of diseased branches
and after spending $$$$, there is no gurantee for this tree to have decent fruits.
My daughter didn't come home to help me to post picture but if I can find somebody else to help me to post it, I am going to post.
DoubleDogFarm, Yes, $1500 is too high despite he said $1500 including pruning 2 apple trees, 2 Asion pear trees, and one persimmon tree.
I love cute animal friends you have!
My main reason to get rid of huge apple tree is thousands of diseased branches
and after spending $$$$, there is no gurantee for this tree to have decent fruits.
My daughter didn't come home to help me to post picture but if I can find somebody else to help me to post it, I am going to post.
DoubleDogFarm, Yes, $1500 is too high despite he said $1500 including pruning 2 apple trees, 2 Asion pear trees, and one persimmon tree.
I love cute animal friends you have!
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Sunflower7
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- Location: Pennsylvania in USA
JONA878, 2 years ago, I sent sample of diseased leaves to Penn State department of pathology.
Result of test was 'anthracnose leaf spot caused by the fungus Colletotrichum Sp'.
Last night, I was looking at DWARF 'Red Delicious' and 'Heritage delicious apple trees on Starkbros catalog.
These trees grow 8'-10'
Another choice is 4-on-1 trees. This apple tree has Red Delicious, McIntosh, yellow gold delicious, and Nrothan Spy.
I really atempted to buy this because self pollinating, hand grafted on DWARF ROOT STOCK. Just like having apple orchard on just one tree.
In your opinion, which is better choice?
You and I are almost same age.
Result of test was 'anthracnose leaf spot caused by the fungus Colletotrichum Sp'.
Last night, I was looking at DWARF 'Red Delicious' and 'Heritage delicious apple trees on Starkbros catalog.
These trees grow 8'-10'
Another choice is 4-on-1 trees. This apple tree has Red Delicious, McIntosh, yellow gold delicious, and Nrothan Spy.
I really atempted to buy this because self pollinating, hand grafted on DWARF ROOT STOCK. Just like having apple orchard on just one tree.
In your opinion, which is better choice?
You and I are almost same age.
Last edited by Sunflower7 on Tue Mar 01, 2011 12:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Hi Sunflower.
This disease that you have on your trees is one from a group of fungal problems that effect many plants.
In apples and pears it shows itself as the fungus called Scab. This is a very common problem of top fruit trees and unless you are prepared to spray your trees constantly it is something that growers have to tollerate to some extent as most trees will be effected to some degree. The fruit may be a little scabby but the taste is not affected.
The secret to help control the fungus is to keep the tree open and airy.
The fungus sporolates....spreads its spores...when the weather is warm and damp, so the drier you can keep your tree the better.
So although your trees have the problem...it is not the end of the world for them.
As regard the new trees you are thinking to plant.
The easiest by far is to plant single variety trees.
Multi variety trees are a novelty to grow and can be a great success....but...you have to maintain a tight control over the various types on your tree.
If one variety should grow a lot stronger than the others then in a very few years the whole tree can become dominated by that variety. So careful pruning is needed.
Single variety trees need not take up a huge amount of space, and with careful choice of rootstocks care of them can be very simple to do.
By the way...nearly all the golden based varieties ...Red Del.etc are very prone to scab and will need at least a little spray protection in some years.
This disease that you have on your trees is one from a group of fungal problems that effect many plants.
In apples and pears it shows itself as the fungus called Scab. This is a very common problem of top fruit trees and unless you are prepared to spray your trees constantly it is something that growers have to tollerate to some extent as most trees will be effected to some degree. The fruit may be a little scabby but the taste is not affected.
The secret to help control the fungus is to keep the tree open and airy.
The fungus sporolates....spreads its spores...when the weather is warm and damp, so the drier you can keep your tree the better.
So although your trees have the problem...it is not the end of the world for them.
As regard the new trees you are thinking to plant.
The easiest by far is to plant single variety trees.
Multi variety trees are a novelty to grow and can be a great success....but...you have to maintain a tight control over the various types on your tree.
If one variety should grow a lot stronger than the others then in a very few years the whole tree can become dominated by that variety. So careful pruning is needed.
Single variety trees need not take up a huge amount of space, and with careful choice of rootstocks care of them can be very simple to do.
By the way...nearly all the golden based varieties ...Red Del.etc are very prone to scab and will need at least a little spray protection in some years.
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DoubleDogFarm
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DoubleDogFarm
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Sunflower7
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- Location: Pennsylvania in USA
Jona878, you are very knowledgeable about fruit trees and I appreciate your explanation about different kinds of apple trees.
My daughter called me from New York and asked me to save huge apple tree because our cats love to climb on.
I told her that our cats can climb on other apple tree on my vegetable garden.
DoubleDogFarm, your fruit tree doesn't look funny at all.
Yes, horizontal branches have fruits but vertical branches need to remove.
Sometimes, when I read back what I typed, I need to correct myself because of carelessness of typo and grammar.
People who were born and raised in English speaking country are lucky.
I lived in USA long enough but still struggle with English language.
About 10 years ago, my Asian pear trees had fireblight and I had to remove many infected branches after I disinfected shears.
My over application of Nitrogen in early spring was cause of fireblight.
Bobberman, you and I live in same state.
My daughter called me from New York and asked me to save huge apple tree because our cats love to climb on.
I told her that our cats can climb on other apple tree on my vegetable garden.
DoubleDogFarm, your fruit tree doesn't look funny at all.
Yes, horizontal branches have fruits but vertical branches need to remove.
Sometimes, when I read back what I typed, I need to correct myself because of carelessness of typo and grammar.
People who were born and raised in English speaking country are lucky.
I lived in USA long enough but still struggle with English language.
About 10 years ago, my Asian pear trees had fireblight and I had to remove many infected branches after I disinfected shears.
My over application of Nitrogen in early spring was cause of fireblight.
Bobberman, you and I live in same state.
Last edited by Sunflower7 on Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:55 pm, edited 3 times in total.
That is something since me favorite plant is a sunflower. Need some free sunflower seeds. I have plenty. I read more about apple trees because I plante three in the last three years. My one tree has 3 different apples on it and should do better this year.
+++I put leaves around the small apple trees to protect them from the cold! I am going to look into the copper sulfate solution to protect from disease this year on my 2 bigger apple trees! Apples have spots and rot and some are very nice. Any suggestions!
+++I put leaves around the small apple trees to protect them from the cold! I am going to look into the copper sulfate solution to protect from disease this year on my 2 bigger apple trees! Apples have spots and rot and some are very nice. Any suggestions!
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applestar
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- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Today was My daughter's birthday and I haven't been able to spend much time here in the last couple of days. Sunflower7, I'm sorry to read about your predicament.
Single most important recommendation I can make is to research the prevalent diseases in your area and, when buying new fruit trees, to choose varieties/cultivars with SPECIFIC RESISTANCE to the most common diseases.
I highly recommend Adams County Nusery website for apple variety as well as some other fruit variety RESEARCH. They have downloadable disease resistance charts with point system for each disease. Their pollination charts are pretty useful too.
Caveat: I have not actually purchased from them due to large quantity minimum order requirement. They are located in Pennsylvania. If you live near them, I believe you Have more options.
Single most important recommendation I can make is to research the prevalent diseases in your area and, when buying new fruit trees, to choose varieties/cultivars with SPECIFIC RESISTANCE to the most common diseases.
I highly recommend Adams County Nusery website for apple variety as well as some other fruit variety RESEARCH. They have downloadable disease resistance charts with point system for each disease. Their pollination charts are pretty useful too.
Caveat: I have not actually purchased from them due to large quantity minimum order requirement. They are located in Pennsylvania. If you live near them, I believe you Have more options.
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Sunflower7
- Full Member
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- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2010 4:34 pm
- Location: Pennsylvania in USA
Bobberman, most people love sunflowers.
I know seeds of sunflower have nutritional value and seasoned roasted sunflower seeds are good snack.
Applestar, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUR DAUGHTER!
I am so glad you reminded me to choose disease free apple tree suited in our area.
Last night, I was searching for landscape pole saw and I almost decided to order HAYAUCHI sILKY 179-39 telescoping one.
It is very expensive but superior product and man who came to see my fruits trees was so happy to have HAYAUCHI products.
My husband thinks I need electric one because it is much easier to finish job.
What is your opinion?
People, I'd like to hear your opinion too.
What kind of telescoping lanscape saw do you have?
I cannot afford $1500 pruning fee but I don't mind to spend superior gardening tools knowing I can use every year.
I also need to buy untreated lumber to make raised bed in my vegetable garden.
Do you have any suggestion about what kind of lumber is reasonable price and best?
I know seeds of sunflower have nutritional value and seasoned roasted sunflower seeds are good snack.
Applestar, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUR DAUGHTER!
I am so glad you reminded me to choose disease free apple tree suited in our area.
Last night, I was searching for landscape pole saw and I almost decided to order HAYAUCHI sILKY 179-39 telescoping one.
It is very expensive but superior product and man who came to see my fruits trees was so happy to have HAYAUCHI products.
My husband thinks I need electric one because it is much easier to finish job.
What is your opinion?
People, I'd like to hear your opinion too.
What kind of telescoping lanscape saw do you have?
I cannot afford $1500 pruning fee but I don't mind to spend superior gardening tools knowing I can use every year.
I also need to buy untreated lumber to make raised bed in my vegetable garden.
Do you have any suggestion about what kind of lumber is reasonable price and best?