best fruit trees to plant?

We have lots of deer here, and cedar trees, so apples are out of the question. I was thinking about peach trees instead but we've never grown them. What fruit trees grow quickly and yield the most fruit? We just have an acre, so we'll probably just plant one or two.

You can do apple trees, just build a little fence around it to keep the deer away. Not sure where you are, but peach trees grow fairly quickly. Sorry I'm not much help. Just started our small orchard a couple of years ago, so I'm trying to learn too.

Thanks, Sonshine. Around here, the apple trees wind up getting cedar rust spot and dying. That's what happened to the last apple trees we planted. Do you think the deer would eat the peach tree? I guess if we can't do fruit, we could try nut trees instead.

plum trees, Bartlett pear, peaches, any type you will eat. In a 20 x 40 area you can plant 6 to 8 dwarf fruit trees, or 4 semi-dwarf, or two full size trees, since proper pollination requires two different cultivars of the same fruit tree type in order to produce fruit, and since space is limited, try to pick something with an early and late production of fruit that will pollinate each other.

Cedar rust blight does not kill trees, apple trees require a year round spraying program that includes fungicides, dormant oil sprays, etc. More likely there are emerald borers sheltering in your cedar trees. This is one time where spraying is mandatory, and I know of no organic option.

Deer will eat just about any tree, just like goats do, but if you pu some type of barrie, like fencing around them, they should be ok.

Sonshine wrote:Deer will eat just about any tree, just like goats do, but if you pu some type of barrie, like fencing around them, they should be ok.

including blueberry bushes

As my goal for my mini-orchard nears I am researching trees and varieties. I am wanting to plant dwarf trees for the easy care and ease of harvesting. I plan to also re-plant these every 5 to 7 years. I ran across this peach variety that might fit your needs. It is self pollinating so you'll only need one, and the nursery claims it should bare fruit in 2 to 4 years. Here's a link;
http://www.starkbros.com/products/fruit-trees/peach-trees/starking-delicious-peach

check your hardiness zone by entering your zip code where it says to check availability, before ordering.