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