Fruit and Nut Tree Questions

Discussion in 'Outdoor Gardening in the Pacific Northwest' started by Sea Witch, Feb 10, 2012.

  1. Sea Witch

    Sea Witch Active Member

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    Location:
    Vancouver Island, BC, Canada, Zone 7
    Hi there:

    I live in Courtenay, just moved here, and I would like to plant several fruit trees in an open sunny 3/4 acre area. I have a few questions first.

    1) I was reading somewhere that apple trees don't have a very long lifespan. Is that true? I would like to plant trees that will live a long time and will hopefully still be thriving in 20 years. Do I need to worry about that?

    2) Do I need to worry about planting walnut trees too close to fruit trees, and the walnut trees somehow inhibiting or poisoning the other trees?

    3) When I plant my trees, can I also plant around the base some kind of perennial ground cover or is that going to interfere with the young trees' growth?

    4) I'm having a hard time finding pear/plum/peach trees that are grafted onto rootstocks that will grow bigger than 8'. Any ideas where to look or who to contact? I've found plenty of them outside of BC, but they can't be shipped to BC. There's a fruit tree grower here on the island who does nothing but fruit trees, but they're all much smaller than what I want.

    Thanks very much
     
  2. vitog

    vitog Contributor 10 Years

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    1) I don't know where you heard about short-lived apple trees, but it certainly isn't true. They normally live a very long time. Peaches are about the only temperate fruit trees that seem to have a fairly short lifespan.

    2) Walnut tree roots do produce some growth-inhibiting chemicals; I would keep them away from other trees.

    3) A ground cover will slow down the growth, but not by a large amount if the soil is fertile. However, more watering will be required; and it might promote rodent damage at the base of the trunk, if you don't keep that area cleared.

    4) I'm surprised that you can't find larger trees. My experience when I was buying fruit trees for planting (quite a few years ago) was that most of them ended up being too large for the available space. One thing to keep in mind is that fruit trees in coastal BC always grow significantly larger than advertised. Unless you are buying trees on fully dwarfing rootstocks, they are likely to be large enough to require pruning to keep them to a reasonable size. My Compact Stella Cherry tree needs to be pruned to keep it from getting too tall for picking from an 8 ft high stepladder. The semi-dwarf Stella that I planted earlier could easily grow to a ridiculous size; I plan to cut it down after one more season because I'm tired of pruning it constantly.
     
  3. Tree Nut

    Tree Nut Active Member

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    Apple trees normally live very long lives. Make sure you get varieties that are optimal for the west coast, as many will have issues with the rainy winters and springs we get here.

    Walnuts will affect the growth of nearby plants, but really, a walnut should be 50 feet away from another tree anyways, as it will eventually get that big. There are many other nut trees that can be grown as well.

    I would avoid ground covers around the base of your trees, especially when they are young. They will slow growth and steal nutrients. Eventually you can use orchard grass to provide ground cover, and perhaps animal fodder.
     
  4. Sea Witch

    Sea Witch Active Member

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    What is "orchard grass"? Is it one particular type of grass that you can seed around fruit trees? Are there several varieties that are suitable?
     
  5. Tree Nut

    Tree Nut Active Member

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    Orchard grass is a type of grass that grows well in the shade of an orchard. It also provides high quality hay for farm animals, especially sheep and horses that can get bloated from other grasses.

    I use it in my orchards as it is not too agressive. Since it doesn't spread very much as it doesn't have rhizomes or stolons, it is easy to keep it from spreading into areas where I don't want it (such as around the bases of seedling trees where it competes for nutrients). It most be mown, or it will develop seedheads which will disperse the seeds.
     

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