Choosing and Caring for Fig and Apple Trees

This week, some thoughts and advice on a couple of fruits you might want to grow. One easy, the other will require a bit more work. Both have their aficionados, and one has been a challenge when it comes to hardiness. But that may be a thing of the past.

I learned about fruit growing from my father who grew plums, peaches, apples, pears and figs. In the berry department he dabbled with strawberries, had several large blueberry bushes, several varieties of raspberries and currents. The berries went into my mother’s kitchen where they became jams and jellies.

He had ongoing issues with the peaches as they were very prone to molds and other issues. The plums seemed to be challenged by borers that each year damaged or destroyed branches, limbs and entire trees. The apples, however, were his treasures, and he grew seven varieties. His pears were his second favorites, and I was always a fan of his Seckel pears.

His apple trees ranged from a tree in the front yard that was about 20 feet tall and about as wide. The rest were dwarves, smaller and much more manageable.

His figs? Oh yes, he had one fig tree, if in fact it could be called a tree, because more often than not it would die back to the ground, and late in the spring or early in the summer it would grudgingly send up several shoots that would produce a couple of dozen fruits. But some years, after cold winters, none at all.

The reason I mention his figs is because back in the 1950s we had really cold winters and most home fig growers would bundle up their plants in the hope of keeping the shoots alive through the winter. It was certainly a challenge, and I remember more gardeners giving up than being successful.

Since then, however, our winters have become warmer and our growing season longer so in terms of climate change, figs seem to be less risky. Even if we do happen to have a bitterly cold winter, most hardy figs will survive but may not fruit the following spring. I suspect, however, that in our current climate regime you may only have a barren fig tree once in 10 years.

So if you’ve been tempted now is the time for you to take the leap. The best time for planting figs is in the spring when you can get bare-root plants. Spring planting gives them months to establish a good root system, which is critical to their success. The most reliably hardy is the Brown Turkey, but there are others you may want to try. You can order them online now to ensure spring delivery.

Varieties know to be hardy on the East End (with some protection) are Brown Turkey, Celeste and Magnolia, which would be considered for a “main” crop, maturing from late summer into fall. Conardria, Tetite Negri and Negronne may yield two crops in one season, but all these varieties should have some degree of winter protection.

Apple harvesting actually began in late August with the earliest varieties and continues into November with the varieties that need cold nights to sweeten them up. But there’s much to know about apple culture and apple varieties before you press the “buy now” button.

Here are some of the considerations you should research before you order your trees. And again, this is a great time to place your order to ensure spring delivery, though some varieties will be shipped this October. That’s fine, as planted properly the fall-planted trees will establish roots and get off to a fast start in the spring. A fast start, however, does not mean fruit. Young, bare-root apple trees can take three to five years until the first harvest. In fact, some nurseries will suggest that you remove any developing fruit through the third year to allow the tree to mature and produce great apples.

Choosing apple trees can be very complex once you get into the rootstock they are grafted onto. Some nurseries will tell you what rootstock your tree has been grafted onto and some won’t. If you get into the complexity of all the rootstock possibilities your brain will begin to fog, so most of us simply take what the online nurseries are offering. But when you get the hang of things you may progress to the specialty nurseries, which will do custom grafting for you.

Why does it matter what the rootstock actually is? There’s a great deal of information on rootstocks, each individual one and its suitability to the variety of apple grafted onto it along with its hardiness, its disease resistance and the soils that it does well in. But again, if you’re not doing commercial growing and if you want to keep this as simple as possible, just go with the stock being offered by the nursery.

When your bare-root apple tree arrives, always pay attention to where the graft is between the root stock and the fruit stock and follow the directions for planting. If the graft isn’t at the proper level you’re efforts may be doomed.

When buying from a mail-order or internet nursery like Stark Bro’s, it’s common to think that the larger the tree you buy the sooner it will bear fruit. This is true but my feeling has always been that a smaller or medium sized tree (in purchased height) will give you a better tree over the years.

You can also buy fruit trees at local garden centers, but these are usually in large pots or balled and burlapped. These trees can be an accelerated way to get fruit but remember the tree still needs to establish a new root system, and it can still take a few years to get harvestable fruits.

Potted trees are also available from Stark’s. If space is an issue you may also want to check out columnar forms of apple trees that don’t spread and become as wide as other apples. The varieties are limited but it does allow those with limited space to grow several varieties.

Another consideration is if the tree is a self-pollinator or if it needs a companion apple tree to act as its pollinator. The catalog should provide you with this information, and if it doesn’t, ask for the information in writing. There are stories of people who only plant one apple tree and still get fruit, but where’s the pollinator? It may be self-pollinating or there may be another apple tree in the area or even a crabapple. One important thing about apple pollinators: If the trees don’t flower and produce pollen at the same time, it won’t work.

Another consideration is the ultimate size of the apple tree. A “standard” tree might grow to 20 feet tall or taller. That means you need a larger property, and you need to have a way to get up 20 feet high to harvest. Most home gardeners chose dwarf or semi-dwarf trees as they are easy to prune and easy for harvesting. Have limited space but want several varieties? Go with the dwarfs. Have more land and room to sprawl? Go with semi-dwarf. Remember though, it’s not the variety that determines the ultimate size of your apple tree. It’s the root stock.

And no, you don’t need to have a beehive in your garden for pollination. Bees and a number of other insects will do the pollinating as will hummingbirds, some wasps and other insects. A beehive in the neighborhood can’t hurt though.

We had an orchard of over 100 apple trees on the last estate I managed. The flower gardens and other trees and shrubs on the property ensured that pollinators were never a problem. Spraying your trees — and yes, you will have to spray them — can kill the pollinators so spraying times should be a consideration. Early in the day or late in the day.

Oh yes, you’ll have to spray. It starts with an early-season spray of dormant oil to control some insects and diseases, but you may need a spray regime that calls for spraying of some kind every 10 days to two weeks during the growing season. Thankfully there are traditional chemical sprays and a variety of organic sprays, and both will work. But they can’t work if you don’t stick to the schedule.

Can you grow apples without spraying? Yes, and I’ve got a tree just outside the kitchen that never gets sprayed. But we never get edible apples. The fruits that are produced become treats for deer, groundhog and other animals. If you’re garden or orchard is off Long Island then you may have to deal with bears. They adore apples and will eat the “drops” and may climb to get those that don’t drop.

Interested in growing apples to make cider? Make sure the variety you choose is a good cider producer. Not all are, but mixing and matching apple types can result in some very interesting ciders. Freshly pressed cider can be put in plastic jugs and frozen for at least two years.

Most apple trees will also need annual pruning, which can be done late in the winter. This is both an art and a science so make sure you read up and understand the reasons as well as the locations for your cuts. Some varieties require little to no pruning, but all will need to be pruned at some point. Read the description of the particular tree’s characteristics.

If you’re new to apples or if you want to learn more a great place to start is the Stark Bro’s web site (starkbros.com). Just put “apples” in the search box and look around. Each variety has the sizes available, descriptions of the tree as well as the fruit, what pollinators will work and much more. Stark Bro’s is not the only vendor, but others will probably not be the actual growers and will simply have an agreement to “drop ship” with an unknown nursery. That’s how Burpee, Gurney’s and other vendors tend to work.

No, you can’t grow every apple that’s sold in green grocers or the supermarket. Some varieties like EverCrisp are patented, and the distribution of the fruit stock is tightly controlled and only available to orchards and with legal restrictions. Most varieties, however, are available for home planting. Even within a variety like Golden Delicious or say, Cortland, you may find sub-varieties with specific characteristics. Don’t obsess though. Find a variety you like, make sure it’s location appropriate, get the right size, have a pollinator if needed and go for it. Keep growing.