I figured one of my longest plans would be fruit trees. They take a good while to get established and then another while longer to actually bear fruit. The trouble is I have a general idea of what apples I like, but not the specific varieties of other fruits I want to grow. Plus, where we don’t have a fence built yet, I’m not confident in where I’d put a fruit tree in our backyard. So, my idea to start with is to buy a variety of fruit trees to plant in the front yard. If we enjoy the varieties we plant, we can root ball and graft that variety into the backyard once we have a better idea of where it needs to go. If we hate it, it wasn’t permanently in the orchard in the first place. And as an added bonus, the fruit in the front yard can be free snacks to the neighborhood.
Very early this year, far earlier than would’ve been safe to plant, I ordered a semi-dwarf granny smith, golden, and red delicious apple tree, and a Georgia belle peach tree. They sat in 5-gallon buckets of soil in my bathroom until we passed any threat of frost.
Once we could dig a hole in the ground we scalped the grass, dug holes about 4 feet apart and placed our trees. I know, 4 feet is way too close together, but this is meant to be a temporary setup until the backyard is more thoroughly planned out and better laid out.
They’ve grown quite a bit this year, save for the peach tree, and look to be in much higher health than the redbud. Maybe 4 feet isn’t detrimental to a fruit tree’s well-being. Or maybe we got lucky with this particular bunch. There’s going to be plenty of learning to come with these, I can feel it!