My first time buying trees and I need help.

From the advice I got on here, and elsewhere I am going to order some trees from Starkbros. I want Cherries, Blueberries, and Filberts to start with this year, and may add some other things as time goes by. I have looked over the site a few times, and I have settled on these plants listed below.



#26670 - Starkrimson® Sweet Cherry Dwarf Supreme
Bare-Root
This item is self pollinating. $36.99


#133048 - Fingerlakes Super-Hardy Filbert Hazelnut
Bare-Root 2 of these= $19.98

Blueberry Patio Assortment
#26277 - Blueberry Patio Assortment
This is one Northcountry Blueberry and one Northblue Blueberry. They claim that they do best when paired together, and when bought together they are discounted for $36 to $29.99

Typar® Tree Circles
#H1606 - Typar® Tree Circles 35"
2 packs of 3 = $17.98

Total $104.94

My questions to you more experienced tree growers are: Do I need anything other than the tree circles? Do I even need the tree circle, or is there a cheaper alternative? Is there any different verities that you know of that I should look into before deciding on these? And basically anything else I should know before I buy these.

Sorry for all the questions, but $105.00 is a lot of money to me, and I know some of you guys have been at the fruiting tree thing for some time. I would also like to add that I know that I could just look online, but I trust you guys far more than some random site from a google search. I love that we have this little community.

God bless,
Chad

Chad you don't necessarily need the tree circles, in my opinion. You do need a way to keep the grass from growing near the trunk of the tree to avoid damaging the trunk when mowing or weed whacking. You could use cardboard and mulch just DO NOT put the mulch directly against the trunk, leave at least an inch or two space so the trunk doesn't rot.

You will need some stakes for each tree to help the tree get anchored in the ground as it grows. Stakes help keep the tree stable in strong winds. If you have critters that will chew on your young trees then look into trunk guards, they wrap around the trunk so the critters can't get to the bark.

I haven't had ANY luck growing blueberries, my soil just isn't right and I can't seem to get it amended properly.

Good luck with your fruit/nut trees and bushes.

Thank you Patrice. The blueberries that I picked out are said to do well in large pots. They only grow to about 2-3' tall and wide. From my understanding they are a favorite of rooftop/balcony growers.

I have not yet decided if I will plant them in the ground or in pots.

Unless you have really acidic soil I'd put them in pots, it's too hard to keep the soil acidic enough to get them to grow well.

I too am a blueberry failure. I have tried both pots and in the ground and killed them both times.

No tree circles for me either. Just keep them mulched out as far as the drip line of the tree and like Patrice says off of the trunk. Mulch around the trunk will smother the tree and even encourage mice and such to nibble the bark.

Personally I don't stake young trees either. Not staking a tree causes it to develop support roots faster. If you live in a high wind area, I guess that you should stake them for the first year only and stake them loose so that they have some movement. I have more trouble protecting my young trees from lawnmowers and critters and kids. I often plant my new fruit trees in a tomato cage and flag the cage. I just plan on cutting the cage apart when the tree gets more able to care for itself.

One more thing to note. Many trees are self fertile, which means they will set fruit if planted alone. Planting another variety with them, however, will always result in even more fruit. Cross pollination is always best.

When planting those trees be sure and dig a BIG hole to allow the roots to spread out as much as possible and then plant them at the same depth they were planted at before. A tree will do better planted too shallow than too deep.

Finally, always remove the fruit from a tree the first year or so to improve the tree's strength and remember to thin fruit every year for the best fruit.

Thank you both for your help. I think I will pass on the tree circles as well.

I am getting 2 filberts, and 2 different blueberries for pollination purposes. I am only getting 1 cherry because I can't afford more this year. I plan on adding at least 1 more cherry next year. That was a big factor in choosing the Starkrimson because most of the other cherries had it listed as one of the best for cross pollination.

How do you know how deep they were planted before?

When you say remove the fruit the first year, do you do that as soon as it sets on, or when?

I didn't stake my dwarf apple when I put it in but I should have to help it get established. The winds and horrible where I planted it and now I have to keep it staked for support. I usually only stake the trees that I see need some support based on its planting location.

As far as planting depth, you should be able to tell by the graft junction if it's grafted to dwarf or semi dwarf rootstock. The grafted section needs to be several inches above the soil or the dominant stock with take over and it will grow to full height.

What she said.    

You can usually see a dirt line when you get the plants.  

Yup.  You just pick off any fruit that you see when you notice it.  That lets the tree get well established.  You also need to thin the fruit later for best production.  Before I knew any better I would let my peach tree produce as much as it could.  What happens is you end up with lots of little fruit and sometimes even broken limbs from the heavy fruit loads.  

Case in point.



Instead you should thin to a nice fruit with no blemishes and leave enough space between that the fruit can get mega sized.  I have weighed the result.  Weight wise you get about the same amount, but you get big beautiful fruits instead of little weird ones.

I have 2 Blueberry bushes, they are 4 years old now and last year we got about 3 cups of blueberries off them. I have medium-heavy clay loam soil that is really acidic. As in my soil pH typically runs 5.5, and won't grow most grasses without amending with lime. Blueberries need lots of nutrients and really acidic soil. Test your soil before ordering. Elemental sulfur will lower the pH to where you need it, but given time so will pine needles and Oak leaves.

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/make-soil-acidic-blueberry-bushes-49247.html

Yes, I have been told from many people that blueberries are hard to get started, but they are both of my daughter's favorite. So I have to try.

I have a plastic 55 gallon drum that I was thinking of cutting in half and making 2 pots for them. Now after all of this discussion I have decided that potting them is the way I will go, just so I will have better control of the soil.

the phrases "well drained soil" and "...don't like wet feet" kept popping up when I was researching fruits and berries. Just offered as food for thought.

What Keith said PLUS a nice thick layer of pine needle mulch should do the trick. Good luck with them.