Anybody have a source for wildlife apple trees at a good price. Would like to get a variety that drop from september to december.

I like Edible Landscaping. They ship year around. They actually care about their products unlike home depot or Lowe's. 434 361-9134

Stark Brothers in Missouri - several orchard growers buy mass quantities from them and they also raise some of their own trade marked varieties. I know there was one grower in Pennsylvania and Virginia I believe that wrote several articles in deer hunting magazines. His income was all apple orchards and he was an avid deer hunter. He recommended Stark as well and that was interesting to me being they are from my home state and he was ordering thousands of trees for his farms rather far away.

It would be worth soil sampling and amending your soil before planting - call them up and tell them exactly what you are looking for and the time frames you want drop. Generally, deer are hard on establishing apple trees as well.....They do have an online site but I would call them and talk to them. I know for large orders you will get best price by calling them.

I would second amending your soil. Good quality compost or poultry manure. Maybe go to your local library and do some research on fruit trees. We bought some fruit trees from Stark brothers and we used compost. They died from fire blight or some fungal disease.

tree tubes are another suggestion.have planted 50 fruit trees in the last 3 yrs with them and they are booming.neighbor was too cheap and has lost half of his and the other half are way behind mine.

To better understand where to start you might check out The Wildlife Group. I'm close to Stark Bros so I buy from them.

If you ever make your way to northern Maine give me a shout, you're welcome to all of the seedlings you want to dig or pull out. We have wild apple trees by the tens of thousands all over the area, my property is loaded with them. I imagine the early settlers brought them with them and the grouse and bear spread them from there. Even this little Charlie Brown apple tree was bearing fruit.

In our state every county has a tree program that you can buy trees thru.

Price is usually around $1-2 ea depending upon species.

I planted 25 Apples of mixed types.
They have been doing good.

I do use tree protector tube for apples and oaks. In my area there are way too many deer, neither of these trees will last if they are not protected.
I would caution you that if do use tubes you may need to extend some over 5ft and make sure that they are pushed well into the ground to keep mice out of the tube.
I needed over 5ft height for the deer. The tubes are now 6-7ft above the ground.

I'd look at some of their pears too.

^^^^^^^ Pears are excellent for deer and other critters and are seem to be nearly indestrucible. We had several pear trees on a place I use to live. Deer, coons, and fox would be all over them in the fall.

But not from Stark brothers. We lost all of our pear trees to fire blight. They came from Stark Brothers.

I like Posco's idea of digging up wild fruit trees.

You still need to consider your plant growing zones. I don't think a dug tree from Maine would handle the heat and humidity of Missouri......If you are in the same zone, you will do fine.

MANAGEMENT

Fire blight development is influenced primarily by seasonal weather. When temperatures of 75° to 85°F are accompanied by intermittent rain or hail, conditions are ideal for disease development. The succulent tissue of rapidly growing trees is especially vulnerable; thus excess nitrogen fertilization and heavy pruning, which promote such growth, should be avoided. Trees shouldn’t be irrigated during bloom. Monitor trees regularly, and remove and destroy fire blight infections. (See Removing Diseased Wood.) If fire blight has been a problem in the past, apply blossom sprays. Sprays prevent new infections but won’t eliminate wood infections; these must be pruned out. In years when weather conditions are very conducive to fire blight development, it can be difficult if not impossible to control the disease.

Choosing Tolerant Varieties

Most pear tree varieties, including Asian pears (with the exception of Shinko) and red pear varieties, are very susceptible to fire blight. Varieties of ornamental pear trees that are less susceptible to fire blight are Bradford, Capitol, and Red Spire; Aristocrat is highly susceptible. Among the more susceptible apple varieties are Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Gravenstein, Jonathan, Mutsu, Pink Lady, and Yellow Newtown. Wherever possible, plant varieties less prone to fire blight damage. Because most infections originate in the flowers, trees that bloom late or throughout the season (i.e., rat-tail bloom) often have severe fire blight damage.

I was just out to my property, this thread crossed my mind and always having my camera handy...

You can't kill these trees, they're like an invasive species. I wasn't exaggerating when I said these trees are here by the tens of thousands, they are. You'll note the pile of brush in one pic. Those are wild apple trees a neighbor cut down to thin her pasture. They're not much to look at but they produce fruit year in, year out and the bear, deer, moose and grouse gravitate to them. So many apples that they just rot into the ground.

Leave the wild fruit trees in place, unless they are crowding.

The best solution is the Russian rootstock which is good for 40 below and produces a nice enough pie apple. Otherwise, look online how to sprout apple seeds from the apples you like in the grocery. No matter what the geneticists say, these will breed true enough in the crosses which are out there in the Honeyscrisp, Fuji etc...
Two of my best trees are from seedlings, which you just put seeds in a plastic bag, wrapped in a paper towel in the fridge and sprout. Container plant them, protect them, and you will have good apples.
A cousin of mine was telling me about the deer eating only the good apples, as they can tell a Haralson from the old pie apples too. By sprouting you get the best lines, and in most locations in Zone 4 south these apples will survive due to Minnesota breeding is the base of numbers of these varieties.
The seedlings I have are from a Minnesota crab apple called Chesnut, and they hang on the tree all winter, so the squirrels and deer were feeding on them in 3 foot deep snow.

I advocate everyone to sprout apple seeds and if you have property to put those trees out for wildlife. You will be surprised how many of them will be eating apples. Do not fall of the 'not a good apple" because not good apples are cider apples and you can make wonderful cider from them.

Here in Pa, deer will walk the whole way through an apple orchard to get to a pear tree. Pears also seem to be more reliable when it comes to bearing fruit each season.

try st lawence n ursery in Potsdam Ny use they use a Russian rootstock have had very good luck with them use freedom liberty enterprise also agree pears are good

There's a small nursery, about 1 1/2 hours from me that sells what they call "Wildlife Trees" and "Trees for Deer and Turkey". I plan on picking up some apple, crabapple and chestnut trees the next time I am down that way.


Do these prices seem pretty decent when buying small numbers of trees?

"Hybrid Chestnut size 24”+ $7

Chineses Chestnut size 30” + $5

Sawtooth Oak size 36” $5

Burgambel Oak size 10”+ $5

Dolgo Crabapple size 18 to 36” $5

Antonovka Apple size 18 to 36” $5

English Oak size 20”+ $5"

Keith

Posco I would love to go back up your way. I used to hunt in Oxbow . Takes about 10 hours to drive. I have two wild pear trees already and I have planted five white oak and 11 hickory. Plus 6 blueberry bushes. I don't have much land 2 acres. But I like seeing wildlife from the camp window throughout the year. Thanks for all the info. I will check into the Russian root stock. My soil is clay and wet .

Plant pears and late apple varieties. Cage them or don’t bother planting them.

If
you want to have some real fun, plant peaches and watch the new fawns eat them when they drop.

Most of the tree tubes I see are 2-3 footers. Fleet Farm has some 6-7 foot trees for only $20 each and they're marked A and B so you know you're getting good cross pollinators if you get some of each. Would you guys that have grown trees where yhey would get nipped off recommend a tube on the bottom to protect from rodents and wire fencing around the tree up to the top to protect it?

I'd love to get some started by my deer stand up in northern Wisconsin.

We have to put a wire fence around our new Apple trees or the deer will mow them off.

https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/products.php?mi=16231&itemnum=17142&title=Protex® Pro/Gro Solid Tube Tree Protectors
these are what I got.

https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/products.php?mi=16231&itemnum=17142&title=Protex® Pro/Gro Solid Tube Tree Protectors
forestry suppliers

Thanks minklessinpa, I imagine a guy would still need to fence it off to protect the top from being eaten by deer. I had a small area fenced off in my food plot this year to measure the growth against what was being browsed, and even that fence got knocked over so they could eat what was inside. Grated, that was only 3' high chicken wire and it was only held in with a few small bamboo stakes.

I fence mine also.it'll deter the deer, I just gotta figure out how to deter them bears!

Do the bears go after the young trees, or is it only an issue once they have fruit? A guy would almost need to set up an electric fence to keep bears out I would think.

had one decide to use a blue tube as a back scratcher. didn't do my pear tree and good.!

https://www.wildlifegroup.com

This is where I buy mine. Not far from where I live. They have different species that drop at different times. I've bought pears, apples, and crab apples from them. In my opinion, you are better off buying old time pear or apple trees. I've found that a lot of these hybrids don't drop their fruit unless you shake the tree. Had some pear trees slap full of pears and they all rotted on the tree without dropping. Crab apples did the same thing.

Would the pear trees do well in northern MN. Or is to cold of weather hard on them?

We have a few here in west centeral part of the state but don't know how they would fair farther north. Suggest you do some research to see if they have anything for up nort.

Fence out away from the trees branches all the way around. I use 4 T posts ane2x3" wire 5' high, tube around base from fall till spring.

Don't forget the coyotes either! Some of my most productive places to catch yotes have been in orchards!

Fruit tree management is very different from hardwood tree management. With fruit trees you want to encourage lateral branching. If you are planting whips, tree tubes might work for a very short while.

Tree tubes are for hardwood trees where you want the tree to grow out of the tube before branching. Tubes work great for that use.

For fruit trees planted for wildlife the best method is to wrap the trunks with a white spiral tree guard from the soil level up to the first lateral branch. Then construct a cage around the tree using fence material that is 2” x 3” at least 60” tall. Use four steel T posts to support the wire. When windy, no part of the tree should rub against the wire.

I have planted more than 1,000 fruit trees and many more hardwoods and conifers. I recommend doing it right or don’t bother.

Thanks Willy Firewood for the advice.

These guys grow great trees that withstand harsh winters .... They have a new owner now and did not offer the wildlife apple tree package this year ..... I was told it will be available next year ....

Haraldson for your climate and weather. They take a licking and keep on living! You can purchase them about at any nursery. And its one of the few trees that can breed true so you can plant their apple seeds in your garden and some (not all) will have genes like their parent(s). You can transplant your own seedlings 2 years later and should have apples 4 years after that. Hardy wildlife apple tree.

Thanks, Wife.

Do tree tubes also create a beneficial greenhouse type of effect for certain trees?

Absolutely. Multiple benefits.

A customer wanted to plant black walnut trees for lumber as a legacy to help fund the land in the future. We got hybrid trees which are supposed to grow few nuts putting the growth into the tree to mature faster. Out of 150 trees, some were very small, short, and damaged - less than 10. I planted them all the same way in the first week of April. I planted the very small, short, damaged trees too. Staked, fertilizer pellet, and a tree tube. By the end of August all trees had foliage growing out of the tree tubes - even the tossers.

We then had a fence builder put a deer fence around the project. Deer usually nibble walnut trees only when very young. After that the bucks damage them with their antlers. It is a beautiful project.

The trees will require annual pruning to remove ectopic branching until they create their own forest canopy.

The land is in a trust administered by the third generation. The youngest in the family who go there are the fifth generation. At maturity in 80 years using a yield of 40% of the projected board feet at $10 per board foot the value is projected at $380,000.

Interesting.

Do you guys prefer a certain height or diameter to your tree tubes?

Thanks I'm going to try with some Crab apples I know the deer like

The Crab on my Property that the Deer Really like.


Seeds from 10 crab apples

St Lawrence Nursery in Potsdam, NY. They have the Russian Antonovka apple trees , around $40 for 10 trees around 18”. I planted 10 last spring in northern NY’s snowbelt on Tug Hill, and they tripled in height this summer. I used 32” tree tubes and watered a couple times a week.
Antonovaka is what they use for their root stock , good for down to -40 F. I have some that are 14 years old and bear annually with a large yellow to red apple that hangs long into the fall.

And as others have stated, fence with deer fencing or they will not last long.

So everything is listed as sold out. When do they have inventory available?

It says the 2023 Availablility will update mid Winter

Thanks, missed that.

I have 12 crab apple seeds between damp paper towels and in ziplock bags I'm my fridge .if they sprout I will be doing 100 more.

The deer go crazy for those apples ; just smaller than a ping pong ball

Same here with the apples, cedar and white pine. I finally have enough apple trees that they are appearing growing wild. One of my favorite varieties produces an apple about the size of a marble, tend to prefer wet areas and hold the apples until the animals pick them off. I had deer in the yard on and off all day today going from tree to tree. I have a couple trees that I dug up from an old homestead up by Ely and the apples are the size of a baseball but fall off in August and are just mush. The animals still love them.

Anything to bring in more deer

Cool, I'm going to try to find some that drop their fruit during our deer season