Fruit Trees for Deer

[East Rush Rules]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to get some of your opinions on what to plant in my new orchard! Obviously there will be both apples and pears, but what kind have you guys had success with the deer liking the most? How about other fruits? Any luck with apricots, peaches, plums, persimmons, crab apples? This is a pretty broad question, just want to get some of you tree smart guys talking about what you see the deer using up here and what will tolerate our winters! Thanks!

[LABS4ME]

Peaches and persimmon you can scratch off your list. Plums grow but short lived and the fruit is only around a brief period.

Crab apples are great for stretching out your season of fruit and generally have abundant apples per tree. Many retain their fruit well into the winter. Species like Prof. Springer and prairie fire will hold fruit into dec and January. Some old pie varieties like Dolgo work well as they grow fast and large. Their fruit is golf ball to egg size. I Had a Selkirk at an old piece of land that bore an incredible crop of crab apples every year. Make sure you have multiple species to ensure pollination. Most fruit trees are self sterile. You can also try Hawthorns. They are distant cousins to apples and deer love the fruit from these also.

Make sure you protect young fruit trees from deer, rabbits and mice. They love the bark and branches almost as much as the fruit!

Good luck!

Ken

[mainbutter]

Ditto on protecting young trees! We learned that lesson the hard way, 6 foot tree eaten down to a 6'' stump...

Now we have an 8' fence around our orchard, and may or may not take it down some years from now.

[LABS4ME]

A stout 6" drain tile put aound each trunk protects the trunk. But they will still eat the branches up to 6' high or so... I do the drain tile, and 2-3 fence posts with wire between them to help protect them for the first 5-10 years. I don't mind the branch eating, the trees compensate for that... I just hate when they eat them to the ground like yours or rub them during the rut. Dang rabbits are tough on the bark too in the winter... if they go all the way around the trunk it is girrdled and WILL die.

You gotta get them through the first 1/2 dozen years and then they usually can take what nature throws at them.

Good Luck!

Ken

[East Rush Rules]

Hey thanks guys! I guess I shouldn't say its a "new orchard". I will be adding to an existing one that is kind of dying off. Pears are a no go? My neighbor has a pear tree that has been around for years and it get loaded with fruit every fall! It is a HUGE tree and the deer love it!

Okay, thanks for suggesting some of the crab apple species! How about certain apples or do they pretty much like all of them? It would be nice to get a couple of different varieties i suppose to have different drop periods.

How about tree farms? Where do you guys like to purchase the trees at?

[LABS4ME]

Pears are good... I never grew them but know the Northern species does well in MN.

Crab Apples grow fast, tend to be more disease resistant and hardier than eating apples...

Any good Nursery/Garden Center is a good source. Make sure they were Northern grown. Too many trees are grown in a more southernly clime and do not always make the adjustment to our climate. Because of the amount of land needed, the majority of Garden Centers do not grow their own trees, but rather buy them in finished off... so it is wise to ask the growing location of their source.

Big Box stores by them from all over the country and probably 1/3 of what they sell is NOT hardy here. If you are buying clearance trees form them at 20 cents on the dollar it may be worth a try, otherwise steer clear.

Any apple or crabapple will be a deer magnet. Does not matter. I'd

look at staggering fruit through the fall with early mid and late fall fruit ripening... then you can do apple and pear crisp all fall!

Good Luck!

Ken

[nubbin]

Dolgos are the ticket. Large fruit and have lots of fruit. Cage them and add some p rock for the first 6 inches around the trunk. This will keep the mice away from trunk after snow falls.

[Ufatz]

Wwe have scattered apple trees and some plums through out woods and will do more. We have deer walking around the front yard all fall and then when winter comes they are so bold they will walk up onn the DECK and try to get feed out of the bird feeders!! You would not believe how much we spend a year on bird and critter food!!

[Bowfin]

I am trying a couple small crabapple orchards the NE Wisconsin for deer and turkey. I wanted varieties with good-sized apples that weren't persistant (wanted them to drop its fruit in the fall). The varieties I chose are Dolgo, Chestnut and Whitney. Trees are doing good however I am just going into the 3rd growing season and havn't had any apples yet.

[LABS4ME]

Hmmm... depending on the size of the tree, I would cerainly expect some fruiting to be taking place by year three. Generally apples that have at least 1 1/4" dia trunk will produce fruit...

Good Luck!

Ken