The Time Is Now To Consider Planting Apple Trees

Every week when I hit the supermarket my first or second stop is for apples. But it’s been six months since peak apple season, and even for the best “keeping” varieties we’re on the verge of the bottom of the basket. Yes, there will be apples showing up soon from places like Chile and New Zealand, but these are just somewhat reasonable facsimiles of our great New York and Washington State apples.The sad fact is that we’re about to enter into the annual apple drought where apple lovers have to suffer until late August, when our first great local apples come to market again. But opportunity is knocking. For the next four to six weeks you still have a chance to order apple trees that you can plant right on your very own property and in just a few short years (or less) you can be picking the best apples you’ve ever, ever tasted.

Afraid you don’t have enough room? Probably not true! Afraid they need too much work with pruning and thinning? Again, not necessarily true. Don’t want to be bothered with all the chemicals it takes to produce a good crop? Grow them organically and use low-spray methods. And by the way, have you noticed how the organic apples at the market are just as big and just as beautiful as the ones grown traditionally? Yup, there’s even been some discussion that apples grown with little to no chemical input actually taste better.

So, where do you start? Well, first let’s see if you have what it takes. You may have heard that you have to grow a minimum of two varieties of apples in order to get cross-pollination and fruit set. Not true! While it is true that in order to grow a good selection of apples you do need cross-pollinators, you can also plant one Golden Delicious or one Braeburn or one Granny Smith or one Scrumptious and you’ll get plenty of apples. These varieties and a few others are referred to as self-fertile and don’t need another apple tree as a pollinator. So yes, you can grow just one.

Ah, but you say you don’t have the room for apple trees? Well, if you have a sunny spot on your property and an open area of 64 square feet (that’s an 8-by 8-foot square), you can grow an apple tree. In fact, there are some dwarf apple trees that lend themselves to container growing, so even if you only have a sunny porch, patio or deck … you can grow apples.

Then there is what I’ll call the Zen aspect of home apple growing. There is nothing quite like going outside on a sunny and cold late winter day to prune your apple tree(s). You get to look at your tree and see what it did in the last year. How much did it grow? How did the structure change? What do you need to do to give it just that right shape and just those right cuts to keep it fruitful? It’s an exercise in observation, contemplation and then the application of both art and science. Many find it quite meditative and satisfying and even more so months later when they see, then taste, the results.

But time is of the essence to get your tree or trees planted this year. You need to pick the varieties you want to grow and then you have to find a source for your trees. If you have an interest in an orchard (which can be small to large), start slowly with a few trees each year. Also, keep in mind that apple picking season can start as early as August and extend through late October, but if a long season of picking is your goal then you need to be very thoughtful in the varieties you choose, as each variety has its own blooming and ripening season.

The selection process should also include thoughts about what you are going to do with these apples. Is it pies you have in mind? Maybe it’s that hard cider you’ve been hearing so much about? Or maybe you just want to pick a few and eat them fresh and store the rest for eating weeks or months later. Then again, maybe you want to do it all. For any and all of these uses there’s an apple. In fact, in New York there are more than 100 varieties that are commercially grown and many hundreds more that you can grow at home.

Most of us start with trees bought by mail and delivered bare root. It’s the least expensive way to start and when dealing with a nursery like Stark Brothers (Starkbros.com) you can get trees for between $20 and $30. These trees will be from three to five feet tall and will begin fruiting in three to five years. In fact, you can go to their website and begin doing your research, as the site is full of useful information on apple growing and tree selection.

Those less patient and in need of nearly instant gratification can go to a local garden center or nursery and purchase a container-grown or landscape-size apple tree. Again, I’d caution you about purchasing a tree like this from a big box store, because you have virtually no clue what rootstock has been used and you’ll soon learn that the rootstock can be just as important as the apple variety you choose. Spend the extra bucks, and if you need a ready-to-plant apple tree that will fruit in a year or two, buy from a reputable local retail garden center or nursery.

As an example, Lynch’s in Southampton will carry a selection of container-grown dwarf apple trees in seven-gallon pots. These arrive in early April as dormant trees but they quickly leaf out and can actually produce fruit the first year they’re planted. Most of the varieties they carry are for the small property and thus they tend to have mostly self-pollinators. You can expect to pay about $50 per tree. I suspect that you can find similar selections at Marders in Bridgehampton and Whitmores in East Hampton. And while these trees may want to fruit this year, it’s always best to pinch off the first year’s flowers to allow the tree to spend its time getting settled in instead of producing fruit.

Either way, you may want to wait a week before you place your order or start shopping. I’m pretty sure that Starks has plenty of trees in cold storage and ready to ship and local garden centers may still be a few weeks away from having apple trees in their yards. You may also want to wait a week to read part 2, because I have some book suggestions, some variety suggestions and some thoughts on growing organic apples. For now, do a little homework. Try this link for a primer and see the apple section: http://goo.gl/X84HR5.

Keep growing.