Tag Archives: bare root fruit trees

Design trends

Bare Root Edibles – Invest in the Future

An apple tree planted now will live in your garden for 60 years

It’s not too late but time is running out if you’re looking to add fruit and nut trees, berries and vegetables to your garden while they’re still available in bare root. Did you know just how long that new fruit tree will be around if you plant it now? If you like figs or walnuts, you can expect your tree to live for 100 years. Apples and pears have a life expectancy of 60 years while plums, pluots and prune trees will be around for 40 years. Love cherries? Your new tree will be in your garden for 30 years. Invest in the future and plant a fruit tree now while they are still in bare root and oh, so easy to plant.

Jeff at Mountain Feed & Farm Supply in Ben Lomond recently showed me around all the edibles available at the store. I’m always on the look out for something new that I might recommend to a client for their garden and I found some good ones in addition to the classic fruit, nuts, berries and vegetables.

If you grow in containers or small spaces try the dwarf thornless Blackberry ‘Baby Cakes’. You’ll get two crops of large, classic, sweet tasting berries per season. Or you might have your eye on a multi graft peach, pear or cherry or a “fruit salad” multi grafted tree. Maybe a weeping Santa Rosa plum would look stunning outside the kitchen window? So many choices.

Jet, my go-to expert at Scarborough Gardens in Scotts Valley, had many great fruit trees still available in bare root. Because they are so beautiful in bloom, I’ve always wanted a dwarf peach or nectarine. From world famous Floyd Zaiger, Arctic Babe, a genetic dwarf white nectarine is a first of its kind. It’s a reliable self fruitful, delicious nectarine ripening late May to early June. Of course, there are apricots, pears, plums, apples, peaches and nectarines also available.

Planting a bare root tree is easy. In most soils, even sand or clay, bare root trees are best planted in your native soil. Less is more when it comes to amending your soil. You want our tree’s roots to reach far into the surrounding soil, and if you have added too much amendment, the roots will tend to grow only in the richest soil right around the tree. You can add a starter fertilizer like Dr. Earth Root Zone or E.B.Stone Sure Start with mycohizzal organisms and micronutrients.

Don’t plant in heavy saturated soil. If your soil drains poorly it’s best to place your tree at an angle in a trench and cover with soil or place it in a can. Wait to plant until the soil is crumbly and friable. Digging in waterlogged soil is one of the worst things you can do for your soil’s health.

What fruit trees can you grow here in the mountains? Well, almost everything. Most of us get 700 hours of winter chilling where the temperature is below 45 degrees. Even with climate change the chill hours add up. And we can still grow fruit like a Fuji apple that doesn’t require this much chill.

What if you don’t get full sun where you’d like to grow fruit trees? Apples, pluots and plums are good choices for an area that gets at least 5 hours of sun a day during the growing season. The ideal is full sun but these trees will still set and ripen some fruit in partially shaded conditions. With peaches, nectarines or apricots it’s a different story. These fruits need hot sun to develop sweet, tasty fruit. Too little sun and they will not deliver anything close to what you have in mind.

With a little planning you can have fresh fruit 7 months of the year. By growing your own fruit you’re not at the mercy of mechanical harvesters and shipping practices. You can grow fruit and harvest it when the time is right. Homegrown fruit is a world apart from agribusiness and much less expensive than the Farmer’s Market.

Design trends

Time for Bareroot Edibles

Bareroot fruit trees in their temporary home.

The other day I visited 3 local nurseries to see what’s new in their bare root edible selection. In addition to the classics I found a ton of new varieties for containers and smaller home gardens. Now is the time to add ornamentals and edibles like fruit, nuts, berries and vegetables while they’re available in bare root form. They are easy to plant, economical and establish quickly.

What first caught my eye at Mountain Feed & Farm Supply in Ben Lomond was the selection of blueberries for containers. I’d have a hard time deciding between Pink Icing, Jelly Bean or Peach Sorbet which is described as having summer leaves of peach, pink, orange and emerald green and grows only to 2 feet.

There are so many fruit trees now available for the home gardener. If you have limited space there are multi-graft trees that combine compatible pear, peach, apple, plum and nectarine. There’s even a “fruit cocktail tree” that combines totally different stone fruits.

Then the selection of miniature nectarines and peaches caught my eye. Scarborough Gardens in Scotts Valley also has a nice selection of these showy spring bloomers with delicious full size fruit including Necta Zee. This sweet, very flavorful yellow freestone has beautiful red skin, ripens in late June to early July and is self fruitful. Dwarf peaches and nectarines grow to about 6 feet making them perfect for the smaller garden.

The Southern Bartlett was found on an old Louisiana homestead and needs only 400 hours of chilling.

If you’ve always wanted a Bartlett Pear but didn’t think it would grow in your garden think again. I saw a Southern Bartlett at Scarborough Gardens. This chance sport needs 400 or fewer chilling hours and was found on an old Louisiana homestead, It is self fruitful.

Shop for your plants in January or February while they are still dormant. Once leaves emerge or flower buds start to swell, roots have already started growing. You want your tree to start developing new permanent roots in their final home. Stone fruits such as apricots, peaches, plums and cherries are going to start waking up first so they are best put in the ground soon. Fruit trees like pears and apples wake up later so you can wait a bit longer to plant those varieties.

What fruit tree varieties can you grow here in the mountains? Well, almost everything. Most of us get 700-900 chilling hours per winter. What does that mean? Well, many fruit trees, lilacs and peonies need a certain number of hours during dormancy where the temperature is 45 degrees or less. You can give the plant more chilling in the winter but not less. Those in coastal Santa Cruz can grow Fuji apples as they require only 300 hours of chilling but not Red Delicious. We can grow both. Late rains can knock blossoms of a low-chill tree that has broken dormancy but we gardeners bet on the weather cooperating all the time. Some years you win, some years nor so much.

What if you don’t get full sun where you’d like to grow fruit trees? Apples, pluots and plums are good choices for an area that gets some sun- at least 5 hours a day during the growing season. The ideal is full sun but these trees will still set and ripen some fruit in partially shaded conditions. With peaches, nectarines or apricots it’s a different story. These fruits need hot sun to develop sweet, tasty fruit. Too little sun and they will not deliver anything close to what you have in mind.

What’s the correct way to plant a bare root tree? Mountain Feed & Farm Supply in Ben Lomond has a great web site with all the information you need to get your new fruit trees off to a good start including planting, pruning, staking, mulching and care as they mature. Visit www.mountainfeed.com for all the information you need.

Don’t plant in heavy saturated soil with a high clay content, however. If your soil drains poorly it’s best to place your bare root tree at an angle in a trench, cover with soil and water in. Wait to plant until the soil is crumbly and friable with plenty of pore space. Digging in waterlogged clay soil is one of the worst things you can do for your soil’s health.

With a little planning you can have fresh fruit 7 months of the year. By growing your own fruit you’re not at the mercy of mechanical harvesters and shipping practices. You can grow fruit and harvest it when the time is right. Homegrown fruit is a world apart from agribusiness and much less expensive than the Farmer’s Market.

Design trends

Bare Root Edibles

This is how your new bare root fruit tree lives before it becomes a member of your family.

Now is the time to add ornamentals and edibles like fruit, nuts, berries and vegetables while they’re available in bare root form. They are easy to plant, economical and establish quickly.

I was like a kid in a candy store during a recent visit to Mountain Feed & Farm Supply in Ben Lomond. If only I had a place to plant some of the yummy bare root edibles they have in stock now. In addition to old favorites I saw many varieties that I’ll be recommending to my landscape design clients. Here are just a few that caught my eye.

For small spaces there are dwarf varieties that have spectacular spring blossoms also. Nectar Zee Miniature nectarine grows to only 6 feet tall with sweet, very flavorful freestone fruit mid-lune to early-July. It’s said to be the best self fruitful miniature nectarine. Honey Babe Miniature Peach and Garden Delicious Dwarf apple also sound mouth watering.

How delicious does a Sweet Treat Pluerry sound? This is a first of its kind combination with the sweetness of a cherry and the zing of a plum resulting in colorful fruit that hangs on the tree for over a month. Or consider planting a Flavor Supreme Pluot from a bare root. A taste test winner this plum/apricot hybrid has sweet, richly flavored firm red flesh.
There are so many other yummy fruit trees available now you just have to go see for yourself.

The folks at Mountain Feed & Farm Supply know a lot about fruit trees. Their recommendation for the best bare root fruit trees for first time planters are apples, plums and persimmons. All three fruits do well in the Santa Cruz Mountains and similar climates. They produce reliably and heavily and tend to need less pest management than other trees. Besides old favorite varieties like Fuji apple and Fuyu persimmon you might want to try a Golden Nectar plum.

In addition to fruit trees, other edibles are available in bare root form. From blueberries to gooseberries to goji berries to fruiting mulberries to dwarf Raspberry Shortcake thornless raspberries the selection is enormous.

Shop for your plants in January or February while they are still dormant. Once leaves emerge or flower buds start to swell, roots have already started growing. You want your tree to start developing new permanent roots in their final home. Stone fruits such as apricots, peaches, plums and cherries are going to start waking up first so they are best put in the ground soon. Fruit trees like pears and apples wake up later so you can wait a bit longer to plant those varieties.

What fruit tree varieties can you grow here in the mountains? Well, almost everything. Most of us get 700-900 chilling hours per winter. What does that mean? Well, many fruit trees, lilacs and peonies need a certain number of hours during dormancy where the temperature is 45 degrees or less. You can give the plant more chilling in the winter but not less. Those in coastal Santa Cruz can grow Fuji apples as they require only 300 hours of chilling but not Red Delicious. We can grow both.

What if you don’t get full sun where you’d like to grow fruit trees? Apples, pluots and plums are good choices for an area that gets some sun- at least 5 hours a day during the growing season. The ideal is full sun but these trees will still set and ripen some fruit in partially shaded conditions. With peaches, nectarines or apricots it’s a different story. These fruits need hot sun to develop sweet, tasty fruit. Too little sun and they will not deliver anything close to what you have in mind.

What’s the correct way to plant a bare root tree? According to research, amending the soil is no longer recommended. Mountain Feed has a great web site with all the information you need to get your new fruit trees off to a good start including pruning, staking, mulching and care as they mature. Their website is www.mountainfeed.com

Don’t plant in heavy saturated soil with a high clay content, however. If your soil drains poorly it’s best to place your bare root tree at an angle in a trench, cover with soil and water in. Wait to plant until the soil is crumbly and friable with plenty of pore space. Digging in waterlogged clay soil is one of the worst things you can do for your soil’s health.

With a little planning you can have fresh fruit 7 months of the year. By growing your own fruit you’re not at the mercy of mechanical harvesters and shipping practices. You can grow fruit and harvest it when the time is right. Homegrown fruit is a world apart from agribusiness and much less expensive than the Farmer’s Market.