Have you ever wanted to grow your OWN apple orchard? Because there's nothing better than plucking fresh juicy apples off your own tree to eat, to make fresh applesauce, to juice or dry into yummy little dried apple treats!
I thought I'd share a few tips to grow your own apple trees. We grow in zone 8b. It helps to figure out your growing zone before trying to grow something that won't flourish as well.
Apples grow best in zones 5-8, but if a tree is hardy enough it can be grown in Hardiness zones 3-5.
Growing apples has been in my family for several generations, as many extended family members owned orchards or worked in and around fruit growers in Eastern Washington.
Fun Fact: Washington state produces about 58% of the apples grown in the US and about 68% of what is grown for fresh consumption!
But growing apples isn't just for those with acres and acres of land. Many apples are available as a dwarf variety or you can espalier them on wire, fencing or on a side of your house.
1. Choose Your Variety
Different varieties grow better in certain areas so check with the nursery or orchard that you buy your trees from to make sure they will grow well in your area.
This chart has an extensive list of varieties, when they ripen and whether they make a good eating, cooking or juicing apple.
We grow all dwarf apple trees, partly for the ease of reaching limbs to prune and thin, but also the smaller size of each tree allows us to plant them in areas where we can still get around and the trees don't take over as much.
Here's a List of the Varieties We Grow
Idared
Side Note
A friend recently bought an already espaliered apple tree that had been grafted with 3 different varieties. She planted it in her small front yard and it's thriving in it's new albeit small space.
So if you're having troubles deciding on one kind of tree, look into already grafted trees if nurseries in your area offer that.
2. Plant More Than One
Most apple trees are what's called cross-pollinators, meaning they need pollen from another tree in order to actually produce fruit. Bees spread the pollen from one tree to the other and allow it produce fruit.
You'll want 2 trees that flower somewhat around the same time as well.
Tip
Flowers draw bees. So plant a few flowers near where you want to plant your trees and it will draw more bees. More bees=more pollination=more fruit for you!
3. Planting
Apples prefer full sun, as in 6 or more hours of day of sunlight. Apples also do best when planted on the north side of your house. This is so that that southern exposure in winter doesn't stimulate the trees to into new growth during winter when a good frost will end up killing it.
Before planting, make sure you pick a spot with well draining soil. While apples do actually need a little bit of moisture, unlike things like grapes or figs which are very drought tolerant, they don't do well in soil that stays wet all the time.
Many apple orchards grow their trees on hillsides that drain well. If you have a slightly sloping area look into that.
Make sure your soil isn't clay filled soil, that will prevent drainage. Clay soil typically is void of a lot of nutrients and also is not very good at draining and often you'll end up with a disease called root rot.
Planting in the Ground
Once you've picked your spot, make sure your roots are moist and not dried out before planting. You can soak the tree roots for a day prior if it has dried out.
Dig a hole approximately 2x the size of your roots and 2-3 feet deep. With your pick or shovel loosen up the soil around the edges of the hole so that the roots can easily penetrate into the dirt as they grow. Put back some of the loose soil at the bottom of the hole before putting your tree into the hole.
Once you like the position of the tree, pack the rest of the soil back into place around the roots in the hole. Don't fertilize the tree right away. You can burn the roots when they are trying to adjust.
Soak water into the dirt well and add any more soil as the dirt sinks down. Dwarf trees are smaller and often sag once they start bearing fruit, so you may have to prop up some of the branches as the tree grows and bears more fruit. But while it's small, you'll probably be okay.
4. Support and Train
Dwarf and Semi-dwarf trees in particular need stakes to support them as they grow, so they don't end up growing all catawampus. Use something like these green steel T-posts staked into the ground a few feet away from your tree.
Then strap rubber tree tie around part of the tree trunk as well as the stakes. If you prefer, you could also use these round wood posts.
Both of these images show how we stake our trees. Both of these are dwarf trees. The one on the left is staked with the Green Steel T-posts, while the one on the right is staked with the round wood posts. See how the rubber ties around the trunk and then to the stake. Either way works, just make sure your post is well driven into the ground and won't fall with a good wind.
5. Regular TLC
Water the root base thoroughly every few days as that will encourage new roots to grow deeper rather than shallow.
Mulch around the root base 1-2 times per year to give more nutrients and keep in moisture. If you look closely in the upper right photo at the base of the tree, you'll see some wire mesh stuff around the base. Mice like to chew on the tree bark and will damage if not kill the tree entirely. you can prevent this by adding a 1 ft base of stiff wire mesh to keep critters away.
Other critters/pests: deer love to snack on apples and will deplete your crop if not kept away. While there are several different "deer proof" sprays you can try, we discovered the only true way to keep them away was to build a deer proof fence around them. Our apple crop this year is unreal!
We do grow our apples organically, meaning we don't use any chemicals, so yes we do have to deal with pests on occasion. The occasional worm will creep into an apple or two and those get thrown out. If you have a small crop and are willing to devote the time, you can try the bag trick. Wrap paper bags around each individual apple to keep pests at bay. yes I realize that's a lot of work. Hence why for our crop it's simply too much work.
See that nasty Spider Mite web. So annoying. Hosing down the branches helps keep them at bay, also keeping the tree well hydrated. Spider mites seem to love dusty, dry weather.
6. Pruning and Thinning
Don't be in a hurry to prune your young trees. Wait until the tree has filled in a bit and is bearing fruit.
Also make sure to only prune when the tree is dormant. (i.e. not when the tree is bearing fruit). Prune off branches the tend to stick straight upright, higher up in the tree (those ones that seem to have gone crazy overnight).
You can prune off branches that appear weaker and unable to sustain the weight of fruit.
Thinning takes so much stick-tuitiveness. As in you'll look at those gorgeous baby apples and have a tough time cutting them off. I promise you will thank me for it though. If you don't, you'll have the tiniest unripe apples you've ever seen. You'll wonder if you didn't fertilize enough. Think of it like this, if you give more energy to fewer fruit, the tree will send energy to those that are left. Otherwise the energy must be shared amongst all of the fruit.
Some people would say to thin away all but one apple from each cluster that forms. We are not that ruthless. Somewhere in between works for us. We leave about 3-4 apples per cluster and they are the perfect size and flavor for us.
7. Picking and Enjoying
The best part! After all that hard work it's time to pick those apples. Because different varieties ripen at different times, pay attention to the tag on your tree when you purchase it or ask at the nursery/orchard when you buy. As a general rule when you can cup it in your hand and gently twist on the stem and the apple comes off easily with the stem intact it's ripe. If you have to yank on the apple to get it come off the branch or the stem breaks off of the apple, it's not ripe.
If you bought your varieties specific to a certain use, like say baking with or for canning purposes, pay attention to that.
Funny story...one of our neighbors wanted to make hard apple cider years ago, and after several bad batches he finally discovered that he needed to grow 2 different tree varieties, one that wasn't a sweeter apple in order to get the flavor right.
Once your apples are ripe try my favorite apple bread recipe. It's gluten free, but easily adaptable to regular AP flour. I recently adapted an apple scone recipe to be gluten free. I'll make it again to perfect it and then share it with you guys.
Whew! I realize this has turned into a monster of a post. If you're still with me, I really hope you consider growing some apples in your future. You really don't need to live in the country to enjoy this fantastic fruit. And if you have any great apple recipes to share, I'd love to try something new.
Share them in the comments and enjoy apple season this year!