Growing Your Own Fruit 

Spring is as important time for setting out new fruit trees. Early spring planting gives young new fruit trees time to get a head start in their new home before hot summer weather shows up. That increases your new tree’s chances for success.

Variety selection is generally at its best, including options with both container grown trees and something known as bare root trees. Most people are probably familiar with container grown trees. Simply put, they are trees growing in a pot. Given proper care, we can have container grown fruit trees available 365 days a year...and generally we do. Bare root fruit trees are a little different.

That term, “bare root”, actually does a pretty good job of describing what we are talking about. These trees have been dug out of the ground during the winter and all excess soil is removed from their roots. They actually now have bare roots. They are kept dormant by then placing them in them in large coolers that keep the temperatures just above freezing, mimicking winter-like conditions. Throughout their storage time, conditions are carefully monitored and the exposed roots are water on a regular basis to keep them from drying out.

We do both at Skinner’s.

We have container grown fruit trees in stock, off and on during most of the year. Bare root fruit trees however, are a spring only item. Eventually, even trees in a cooler begin to sense spring and need to be planted out.

Both types make for good trees to plant out.  Our bare root trees are usually only about one year younger than their potted counterpart. They are generally considerably cheaper than the potted version, and because there is no pot full of soil, they are also easier to haul home. Planting and post-planting care is essentially the same for both as is overall transplant success.

More important that which type you are going to plant, is what varieties you are going to choose ton include in your home orchard? There many different types of fruit trees we can grow here, including apples, peaches, pears, cherries, nectarines, apricots and plums as well as other lesser known fruit trees and even nut trees. All have pros and cons that should be considered as well as cultural information that is important for success. We can help you work out that information. There are a couple of good links below that may help as well. One is to a K-State Extension publication that goes through some of the basics of fruit gardening. The other is a link to the “Edible” section of our catalog. It lists and describes a long list of tasty fruit tree choices.

Now, all you need to do is decide what kind of fruit you want to enjoy. Have fun!

The Edibles portion of our catalog.

Planning Your Fruit Garden.  

  

"Thymely" Advice...Winter Pruning

  

 

Now that we are approaching the later part of winter, it’s time to think about doing pruning projects before spring gets here. It’s easier to see what you are doing when there aren’t a lot of leaves in the way, so take advantage of a nice afternoon and get some work done!

Here are a few tips to help you out.

• As a general rule, try not to prune early spring flowering shrubs until after they have bloomed this spring. Shrubs that bloom early have dormant flower buds already formed on the overwintering branches. Pruning now removes the flowers you want to be enjoying in the months to come. On the other hand, if your shrub doesn’t bloom until summer, or doesn’t really have showy flowers to begin with go ahead and prune it now. This year’s flowers will form on the new growth that emerges.
• Remove broken, diseased or damaged branches first, then prune branches out to help direct growth, control size as needed.
• Learn where and how to make a proper pruning cut and always use sharp pruning tools that will do the job properly. Hand pruners and loppers are for smaller twigs and branches and pruning saws are for larger branches.
• Never use pruning paints or sealers. These products were once thought to help protect trees when large cuts had to be made. We now know that these products are cosmetic at best and in many cases, they actually slow down the healing process and increase the likelihood of rot and decay setting into exposed branch tissues. Just learn how to make proper cuts and let your tree do the rest.
• Unless you really want your plants getting big, most shrub roses will benefit from a hard pruning each spring. In most cases it’s safe to remove around 2/3’s of the old top growth. Then thin and the remaining branches as needed.
• Most clematis should be pruned to about 12-18” tall each spring. Do this before the new growth starts and remove all of the pruned off branches from your trellis.

We have lots of great pruning tools at Skinner’s. If you need help figuring out what you need or what style or type of pruner or saw would be best for you, just come on out and we’ll give you some recommendations. 

Trees and Shrubs...Oh My!

While many trees provide beautiful spring flowers and all offer relieving shade through the summer, fall color is king at this time of the year.

So how do you decide which tree and which fall color are best for you?

First of all, no tree choice is right no matter how much you might be in love with it if it is inappropriate for the site. You definitely want to plant something that will have a good chance of performing well in your own unique site conditions and always... always make sure you have room for it to grow. You don't want a huge tree overpowering a small space and you definitely don't want your trees getting into power lines. We will ask you questions about your yard and your planting location to try and help steer you towards site appropriate choices.

Now you get to have some fun and start thinking about fall color! Bright golds, vibrant reds, fiery oranges...there is so much to choose from! Here are a few suggestions.

Yellow - Brilliant golds and vibrant yellows really light things up. Think about choices like Honeylocust, Linden and Ginkgo for large shade trees. Other trees like Redbud, Goldenraintree and Riverbirch offer impressive color in a smaller size.

Orange - Colors like the flames of a fire! One of the best is Sugar Maple, but also consider Amur Maple, Serviceberry (orange to burgundy) and Baldcypress (rusty orange). All are very impressive against the rich blue fall sky

Red - It's hard not to love bright red fall color. Maples like Red Maple and Freeman Hybrids (like Autumn Blaze) are some of the most popular, but don't forget about some other amazing trees you can plant. Black Gum has stunning red fall color and there are quite a few oaks that produce great red to red-wine fall color. Think about Shumard Oak, Scarlet Oak, White Oak and Shingle Oak. If you're in the market for something smaller then consider Tartarian or Paperbark Maple.

That's definitely not everything but it is a good start!