I've put off planting fruit trees as I was unsure of my ability to maintain access to my hunting property. The property owner has given me a permit for "life", of course hinging on as long as he owns the property, which I believe he is in no mood to sell anytime soon. I've been saving my pennies to buy some older (5-7 gallon) fruit trees. I'm in the Huntsville Area and I imagine I'd be able to dig someone up at the local nursery or similar to provide some WHEN answers. The big question I have for anyone with experience would be WHAT. What should I be looking to plant. I hunt near Scottsboro, rockyish, soil though where I am planting has some decent dirt. I've witnessed first hand the deer come running to the apple tree at a friends place and after he dropped one with a bow, they were back before we had dragged the deer back to the truck.

Make no mistake, I'm not assuming they are some magic pill, but simply another tool in the tool box.

I'm assuming some mix of apples with a midseason/late drop date will probably do well for my plans. Any suggestions?

Pears & persimmons are the simplest fruit to grow. You can get the pears for around $15-$20 each for a large bare root seedling around 5 ft tall. They'll start producing in about 4-5 years.

pears for sure , once they been in the ground a year or so ya dang near cant kill em....deer love the things I've got 8 planted on my place the keiffers do the best. then put persimmons in ..

The Wildlife Group has a couple of pear varieties that drop Oct-Dec. That and AU Buck IV Chestnuts that drop later would be good a good start. Apples are pretty time consuming to care for properly.

The problem I've had with apples is that they get blight or apple cedar rust, etc and die too easily. My pears just grow out of it and most of 'em aren't really effected much to begin with. I'm starting to put on some decent pears crops on some of my trees now. Trapping out all the coons has helped too I believe. I may have to get back after them soon though or I'll have new ones in here again. That's something else to consider about fruit. Coons will hit you pretty hard before the fruit ever falls.

Biggest problem I've seen in pears is Fireblight. Some varieties are resistant some aren't. I t doesn't kill the tree, just the ends of the branch usually.

As the poster said earlier, the Wildlife Group in Tuskeegee has bareroot, 3, and 5 gallon trees like pears, crabapples, sawtooth, chesnuts. Might be just what you need. Good Luck.

I am planning to plant 42 trees in Feb. I've cleaned off the spot and took measurements for the spacing I want. That's where the 42 comes from. I will be planting apples, pears, plums, persimmons, nectarine, peach, and chestnuts. Been checking each variety pH recommended and will take soil test.

Thanks for all the info, I've just visited the wildlife group, I believe I'll be giving them an email soon. I've been told various planting times, ranging from October to February. Any thoughts?

Odd, I apparently have two similar handles.

Anytime after the trees go dormant is fine. Just try to pick a time when its not dry. I usually plant right after deer season is over every year. I've planted many of the things The Wildlife Group sells. If I had it to do over again I'd invest more in hard mast trees and less in fruit trees.....except for the pears and persimmons.

I'm flat covered up with Oak trees where I hunt. Otherwise I'd agree. Do you think that some of the Chestnut species would be worth a go?

Call Alan at The Wildlife Group and see. He's a good guy, a fellow hunter and they give back to our sport. I can't imagine him steering you wrong. I've planted two of his fruit tree packages, plus chestnuts, Fuyu persimmons, plum, sawtooth, blackberries, and blueberries. We lost 3'trees to the drought. All the others are doing well.

I bought a wildlife package from Wildlife group and it has done well. Containers can be planted anytime, as long as you can keep them watered, but i would do it in the cooler months.

Chestnuts, sawtooth oaks, nuttal oaks, chinkapin oaks are all good choices. I’ll take some pics in a little while of some of my fruit orchards to show more about what I’m saying. I had a dozen Chickasaw plums that had been growing and producing prolifically for about 6-7 years….they all died this last year. I also lost a Santa Rosa plum. I’ve got full grown peach trees that have been producing that didn’t produce anything this year due to late frost. I’ve grown apple trees for 3-4 years and had them up to good sized trees….only to have them get blight and die. Got another out here right now that’s about to be BBQ wood. I started out with around 40 apples and crabapples about 5 years ago and I’m probably down to 20-25 now…..

By all means, give them a try if you want to….but nuts are easier to grow and more dependable to produce.

Here’s some Chinese chesnuts and sequin chestnuts (smaller)



Here’s two different kinds of sawtooths…regular and gobbler (smaller)

What's the trick to getting Kieffer pears to live?

I planted two last year and one died. This year I planted 3 more, and have 3 dead ones. The one that made it through last year and 2 of the new ones.

When are you planting them and where are you planting them??....as in what's the soil like?

I’ll add this because its important regardless of your answers to my last questions. One of the biggest keys to successfully getting trees transplanted and established is keeping the roots moist. That means trying to plan your planting time around a time period when you’re gonna get some rain or when the soil is good and moist already....NOT when its dry. It also means keeping the roots good and moist during the time that you’re actually planting…..don’t let them dry out. This is really important on your bare root seedlings. Planting in late winter when things are “wet” will help a lot. You shouldn’t have to water them after planting.

I've been planting them in February. Soil type is nice Lincoln Co. TN black soil. Not sure the specific name or soil type in that area. I know across the line in AL where I live it's clay.

Oh and I've been planting them out of 5 gallon containers; 4 - 5' tall trees.

It sounds like the trees are likely never really getting established well. A couple thoughts on what it could be…..

It might be your soil giving you issues. I think pears prefer a sandy, loamy type soil versus any harder clays. It could be the quality of the trees you’re getting and how well they’ve been taken care of prior to you getting them. It also could be the size of the trees you’re trying to transplant. I’ve found it much easier to establish younger, smaller trees.

I think the first thing I’d attempt to change is I would try to order some smaller bare root seedlings from a reputable nursery (not saying you’re not using one now). Try to use one close to home if possible. Ideally, you would like to know that the tree has not originated from a nursery in a different climate. I think its something like 200 miles north or south at the most from where you're planting is about what you want to shoot for. That's what we were taught with pine trees anyways.