I bought our two apple trees bare root at The Natural Gardener. 'Mollies
Delicious' and 'Granny Smith.'

The peach 'Dixieland' I bought at Lowes. It was in a three or five gallon pot,
I forget now. It was not leafed out, but it was in pink bud stage. I planted
it immediately and I'd say it was about two feet tall after I pruned it the way
Dromgoole recommends. It was painful, but I did it. Read more about his method
at www.naturalgardeneraustin.com

As for soil, I don't know what pH they like, but if my soil is not right for
fruit trees, you sure can't tell by the trees! The peach is now well over 10
feet tall and about 15 feet wide at the drip line. The apples are struggling
through their first year, but by next year will have a substantial root system.

To prepare the hole I dug it out three times the diameter of the container.
First I lain the top soil to the side on a tarp, then I removed the next layers
on another tarp. I jagged up the hole so nothing was smooth I loosened the soil
at the bottom with a rod of rebar. I dropped a small amount of compost down in
the holes at the bottom. When the tree was still in the container I watered it
and kept watering it over and over to make sure every tiny root hair was fully
engorged with water and only then did I place it in the hole. I lain the
straight piece of bamboo at the top of the hole to be sure I would not plant the
tree too deeply. It's always better to plant it not deep enough, than to plant
it deeper than it is while in the container. I put some soil where the tree was
to be placed, packed that down a bit, made sure the tree was a bit above ground
level so when the water settled the soil the tree would not be too deep.

After the tree is placed and esthetics were taken into consideration as to how
to place it, I replaced ONLY the soil I removed. First the top of the pile of
lower layers and the top soil back on top of that. Then I placed a three inch
layer of compost, and on top of that a few inches of mulch. That's why I didn't
care if the tree was planted too high. Matter of fact, I prefer that method. I
did not trample the soil, but let a very slow soaker hose do that for me. I
let it very slowly trickle for about three hours.

Now I have about 200 peaches on that one tree, three seasons in the ground.

On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 17:08:39 GMT, "Scarlett" wrote:

Where did you buy your peach trees, and what size were they when you planted
them? How deep and wide was the hole for planting, and did you plant with
any additives? Our soil is extremely alkaline, and I think fruit trees need
acid, don't they?

We have raccoons, possums, squirrels and deer, not to mention the blue jays!
How do you protect the young trees from these "critters" until they are
strong enough to make it on their own?

Many thanks!

Scarlett