Susan Nolan
Trees provide many benefits: cooling shade, fruit, habitat for birds and other wildlife, privacy, beauty. On top of all that, they sequester carbon in their wood, and the fall bonanza of deciduous leaves makes great compost, which if handled well will return carbon to the soil, an excellent long-term place to store it.
Now is the best time of year to think about planting a tree. Orchardists call this “dormant season,” when plants have lost their leaves and stopped growing. Planting now is like doing surgery on a patient while they’re anesthetized: much less trauma, better recovery. Late fall to early spring is the season: the earlier, the better.
Arbor Day is in spring, best for cold-winter places. With the West Coast’s milder winters we can plant from late fall til early spring.
Fruit trees are sold “bare root” in the winter, when young trees are dug up and shipped straight from growers’ fields, and stored in bins at your neighborhood nursery. Bare root trees are cheaper than potted trees, and they’re a better buy in another way: their roots are more developed.
Consider full-size “standard” trees, semi-dwarf, or dwarf. Semi-dwarf is a practical size, not too big to keep pruned and picked with an ordinary ladder, but bigger and more productive than dwarf (although sometimes there’s only room for a dwarf). The size of mature standard trees can make them a challenge to take care of.
Fruit trees of named varieties usually need pollinators. They’re not self-fertile and need pollen from a different variety to make fruit. Your Fuji apple will need help from a Gravenstein or Golden Delicious, for example. Pears, plums and most other fruits need pollinizers too. Town dwellers in Humboldt County, where fruit trees are so popular, might not need a pollinator—a nearby neighbor’s tree could do. If you don’t know of a pollinating match for your new tree in the neighborhood, you’ll want two new trees to get fruit.
So many different varieties to choose from! Just remember that some need more cold winter weather to bear fruit, some need a hot summer to ripen, others can’t handle freezes. Research or the counsel of a good nursery worker could save you some grief.
Because they are hand-grafted to preserve the exact variety, fruit trees are a little spendy: budget around $100 each. Ornamental (ungrafted) trees are usually less.
Birders may prefer native trees such as crabapple, cascara, Pacific dogwood, or alder (red along the coast, white in hot-summer areas). Their succulent leaves feed insects and their larvae; their fruits and seeds attract birds themselves. They are available at native plant nurseries and many are easy to grow from seed for some real bragging rights.
Shop early for the best selection. Nurseries drop the price in spring to clear out leftovers, but it’s worth paying full price for well-formed vigorous specimens.
If you sort through them you’ll see some differences. Look for one with branches evenly distributed around the trunk, not all one side. with good angles of 45 to 60 degrees to the trunk. Check the roots too. Beware of especially big trees—they might be last year’s runts held over.
Before you start digging, imagine your tree full grown in the spot you’ve picked. Any issues with power lines, being too close to buildings or property lines? Okay then. A wide, generous planting hole will give your new tree plenty of loose soil to grow into. But you don’t need to add any amendments or fertilizer, as the tree will settle in better without added stimulus. Set the tree at the right height: the flare where the trunk turns into roots should be just visible. Spread roots out, check to be sure it’s standing straight, then fill in the hole. Stakes are usually not needed. Water well to settle the soil. Then water deeply once a week in dry spells until cool weather returns next fall.
Deer love fruit trees. Not just the fruit – leaves and twigs too. If deer can enter your yard, your trees will need protection — a circle of six foot tall chicken wire will do.
Pruning, like planting, is best done in the winter. Next year you’ll want to begin shaping your tree, to make it easy to pick, to prevent disease, and improve yields. There’s an art to this. A workshop, reading, or videos can guide you.
Planting a tree is a long-term gift to yourself and the world that will keep on giving.