Now is a good time to put in fruit trees

A fruit tree in the back yard is a beautiful thing.

Take care of it well and it will provide loads of fresh fruit for years.

Fall is a good time to consider planting.

Sam Benowitz, owner of Raintree Nursery in Morton, Wash., offered some advice on selecting and planting fruit trees. His nursery specializes in fruit, nut and berry plants, and he said there are many good nurseries in the area that offer fruit tree varieties that will do well in Western Washington.

He suggested Methley, a Japanese type plum with fruit good for eating and preserving. Rubinette is an apple with a good flavor with good disease resistance, and he also likes Chehalis. Rescue and Orcas are two pear varieties that do well in our area.

When you go to the nursery, choose a tree that has been potted up recently, Benowitz said. You don’t want the leftovers from last year, which might be root-bound in the pot. Just ask the employees at the nursery when the trees were potted.

Most apple and pear varieties and some plum need to be cross-pollinated by another variety to bear fruit. That means you need two different apples with similar bloom times. Homeowners can also consider a tree with multiple varieties grafted onto one tree. Varieties with similar bloom times grafted on one tree will cross-pollinate.

Combination fruit trees are a nearly ideal solution for homeowners who want many types of fruits but don’t have much space. Different apple cultivars can be grafted onto one tree and some ambitious fruit growers have as many as 100 different types of apple on one tree, he said.

The downside to combination fruit trees is they can be more difficult to care for. Pruning these trees are tricky since the different varieties can grow at different rates. Extension bulletins are available that can provide some pruning instruction, but here’s one hint: The angle of the branch determines how fast a tree branch grows. If a branch is pointed up it will grow faster. If one branch is growing too quickly, you can weight that branch down with a string tied to a brick, which will slow the growth, Benowitz said. You can also cut a fast-growing branch back to a side branch, he said.

Homeowners with a small yard should consider trees grafted onto dwarf and mini-dwarf rootstocks, which control the overall size of the tree. Mini-dwarfs only grow to about 10 feet tall.

Think about the long-term uses of the yard before planting a tree. Select a site that receives full sun at least two-thirds of the day, Benowitz said. Clear the site of sod three feet in every direction. The shallow roots of a young tree compete for water and nutrients with grass and the tree’s growth will be stunted if it’s planted in the lawn, he said.

It’s not necessary to take a soil test but it helps, Benowitz. Most soils in the Northwest tend to be acidic. The optimum pH is 6 to 6.5. If you plan to plant next spring, he suggested adding two coffee cans worth of agricultural lime per tree now. Sprinkle it in a 10 by 10 foot area in the area where the tree will be planted, he said. It’s also a good idea to work in compost to the planting area. Fruit trees don’t need flat land; they’ll do fine on a rocky hillside, he said.

When it’s time to plant, dig a hole that is a few inches wide and deeper than the roots. It’s not necessary to dig a bomb crater since the roots mainly spread out, not down, he said. Use a spade fork to break up the sides and bottom of the hole so new roots can penetrate the soil. Don’t fill in the hole with rich potting soils, which can cause a bathtub effect, trapping the roots. The tree will do its best with the native soil.

Remove any packing material around the tree roots. Wash the roots with a garden hose. Prune away only broken roots. Let the tree roots soak in a bucket of water for an hour. Make a small mound in the bottom of the hole and spread the roots so they are facing outward and slightly downward. Cut off any extra long roots that might circle around the hole.

Plant trees at the depth they were planted at the nursery. Make sure the graft union, which looks like a small lump toward the base of the tree, is planted at least two inches above the ground.

Fill the hole and tamp the soil down after every few shovels to get rid of air pockets. If you’re planting in heavy clay soil, don’t tamp. Instead, backfill half the hole and flood it with water, jiggle the tree gently to work the air bubbles out, finish filling, and flood and jiggle again.

The final step: Water your tree deeply. The tree will need regular, deep watering during the first few growing seasons with the first summer being critical.

Not quite ready to plant this fall? Benowitz said nurseries have the best selection in early spring, and it’s fine to plant a dormant tree in February.

Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com