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Spring is just around the corner and in our mild climate, planting
time is here. Many of us want to grow more of our own food
but need answers to some basic questions. In order to make
good choices regarding planting fruit trees and other plants,
we all need honest and objective information. If you are
considering planting an apple tree, choosing the right variety
and rootstock will help you avoid future headaches and regrets.
Here are some basic principles that will help in choosing
an apple tree for your yard.
1. What varieties are good for our region? Virtually
all apples we buy in local stores are grown east of the Cascade
Mtns., where summers are hot and winters dry. We all like
Granny Smith, Gala and Fuji, varieties that grow very well
in Yakima and Hood River. However, our climate is not as
warm which makes it more difficult to ripen a late variety
like Granny Smith and our winters are wet which causes more
disease problems with varieties like Fuji and Gala.
In our climate, growing Granny Smith will be disappointing
and, unless you want to spray fungicides all winter, Fuji
and Gala will have diseased foliage and blemished fruit. Thankfully,
there are varieties that ripen well and are resistant to disease.
Starting with early varieties, better choices than disease-susceptible
Gravenstein are
Wynooche Early,
a tasty and disease resistant variety from Aberdeen, Washington, and
William's Pride,
a new-patented variety from Purdue University. Good mid-season varieties include
Liberty,
a sweet-tart variety that is virtually immune to disease, and
Spartan,
a dark-red and very flavorful fruit. For an easy to grow, late season variety,
Enterprise
is another patented and tasty variety from Purdue U.
2. Dwarf or Semi-Dwarf, what's better? While you can grow an
apple tree
from seed, you will likely not receive the delicious variety
you wish for. Because fruit on plants grown from seed can
be small, ugly, tart, and diseased, all apple varieties are
grafted onto a rootstock. By taking a stick from a known
variety, like Fuji, and placing it on an apple seedling, a
nursery produces basically an identical plant of this variety.
But because grafting onto a seedling apple produces a very
large tree, most varieties are grafted onto a dwarf or semi-dwarf
rootstock. These rootstocks were created by researchers looking
to make trees that are easier to prune and harvest and that
can fit in smaller spaces.
There are many dwarfing rootstocks that create trees of different sizes. When shopping for an
apple tree,
ask the nursery staff the actual rootstock your favorite variety
is grafted onto. Just using the words dwarf and semi-dwarf
is not enough information. Rootstocks are identified by numbers
and, for example, M-7 is called semi-dwarf and makes a tree
12 to 16 feet in height. M-111 is also called semi-dwarf,
but makes a tree that can grow over 25 ft. in height. M-26
is called a dwarf rootstock and makes a tree 8 to 12 feet
tall. M-27 is also called dwarf, but makes a tree less than
6 feet in height with a very weak root system that will need
a stake to keep it from falling over.
3. What about
Columnar Apples?
Also called Collonnade Apples, these very easy to grow
apple trees
originated from a natural genetic mutation in an orchard in
British Columbia. They are distinguished by their upright
growth habit combined with a few upright branches. They also
bear fruit the year after planting and the following varieties
are very disease resistant. While naturally compact, they
are also very sturdy and can be grown in very confined spaces
or even in a pot on a deck or patio. Columnar varieties include
Northpole™,
a tasty, large, red Macintosh type apple,
Golden Sentinel,
similar to Golden Delicious but better for our climate, and
Scarlet Sentinel,
a later ripening, large, sweet fruit.
4. Do I need more than one tree? Virtually all apple
trees need to be pollinated by another variety. If you already
have a tree in your yard or there is one in your neighbor's
yard, pollination should not be a problem. If you are unsure
about the existence of nearby trees, planting two different
varieties will ensure pollination and abundant harvests.
Trees need to be reasonably close to each other, as pollination
is carried out by our bee friends.
5. What kind of soil and exposure is best? Apples are
easy to grow in most soils. Clay soils are excellent as long
as they are well drained. Poorly drained soils are those
that have water on the surface even several days after rain.
Locate apples in a location with at least 6 hours of sun in
the summer. They will grow in more shade, but fruiting will
be irregular and they will be more prone to diseases.
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