I have one cherry tree that has many blosoms. This is their first spring
in my garden. All dwarf with the exception of the one I started by seed
last year.

"Tom J" wrote
cshenk wrote:

I planted them late fall, later than normally advised and with the far
harsher than normal winter on the east coast, expected they had died.

2 weeks ago we saw buds. Last week we saw a few greening bits. Today,
literally overnight one burst into bloom

If you want to have strong healthy apple trees, as soon as they set fruit,
you'll be out there pulling them all off this 1st season!!

Hi Tomj, This is a very old message. 9 April 2010.

It's a followup to one sent 24 October 2009 when I planted these 2 trees.
"I just planted 2. One is a Yellow Delicious semi-dwarf and the other is a
Granny Smith. They are about 15 ft apart."

I lost track of this group when Cox removed newsgroups. Someone just
mentioned it in the home repair newsgroup and I went 'oh yeah!'.

You were right. They fruited like crazy but we carefully enjoyed the blooms
then removed all the fruit. There were probably at least 20 on the yellow
delicious and at least 5 on the granny smith.

Now it's time for their second winter. They've grown a bit but not hugely
nor did I expect that. As they are still filling out, I think no trimming
this fall. They are both about 6ft tall. We had to use some mild apple tree
sprays on them for a leaf mold in spring when it was wetter than normal but
otherwise nothing. In spring we'll do more fruit tree spikes (just a few,
let'em reach natures point mostly).

Ok to let 1-2 fruits this next year try to develop?

Yes you can let a juvenile apple tree mature a couple of fruits, if it
pleases you. How will you feel if animals or guests pinch the fruit?

I have a handful of mature fruit trees (apple, pear, apricot) that had
been neglected for years and were producing scant nasty tasting fruits.
After a few years of cleaning up all debris, pruning, and just a single
application of a minimal quantity of fertilizer, this year all trees
except one produced excellent fruit. The one I think is a feral recruit
from seed. It flowers well in a shady location (!), so for now I am
leaving it for its ornamental value and as a pollinator for the others.

The prunings I saved for use in a smoker and now we are enjoying fruit
wood smoked meats. Yum!

This year I planted some cherry trees. They will need pruning for shape
over the next few years. If I stay on top of it, their pruning will
consist of little more than pinching buds. It is exquisite work, kind
of like bonsai. Many minutes of contemplation, then cut in an instant.
I am considering using wire wraps, a bonsai shaping technique, on the
apples to turn some suckers into replacement limbs that grow just where
I want them.

I have a long fence now decorated with virginia creeper. I want to put
grape vines there. Probably animals will get most of the fruit, but
the fence is on a property line and the neighbors have a dog. The dog
might help guard the fruit.

Una

Oh, good. There are two crab apples at the new house. That list
will be very useful, because I also want to get two fruiting
cherry trees, which will eventually replace the tortured
non-fruiting ones that are currently there.

"cshenk" wrote
"Tom J" wrote
cshenk wrote:

I planted them late fall, later than normally advised and with the far
harsher than normal winter on the east coast, expected they had died.

2 weeks ago we saw buds. Last week we saw a few greening bits. Today,
literally overnight one burst into bloom

If you want to have strong healthy apple trees, as soon as they set
fruit, you'll be out there pulling them all off this 1st season!!

Hi Tomj, This is a very old message. 9 April 2010.

It's a followup to one sent 24 October 2009 when I planted these 2 trees.
"I just planted 2. One is a Yellow Delicious semi-dwarf and the other is
a Granny Smith. They are about 15 ft apart."

I lost track of this group when Cox removed newsgroups. Someone just
mentioned it in the home repair newsgroup and I went 'oh yeah!'.

You were right. They fruited like crazy but we carefully enjoyed the
blooms then removed all the fruit. There were probably at least 20 on the
yellow delicious and at least 5 on the granny smith.

Now it's time for their second winter. They've grown a bit but not hugely
nor did I expect that. As they are still filling out, I think no trimming
this fall. They are both about 6ft tall. We had to use some mild apple
tree sprays on them for a leaf mold in spring when it was wetter than
normal but otherwise nothing. In spring we'll do more fruit tree spikes
(just a few, let'em reach natures point mostly).

Ok to let 1-2 fruits this next year try to develop?

Followup, they survived well and we left 1 fruit on each though they didn't
come to full size.

Now, they are fallow in winter. In 2 months, (maybe less, weather depends)
we will see shoots and flowers erupt all over them. I can't wait!

Hi Tomj, This is a very old message. 9 April 2010.

It's a followup to one sent 24 October 2009 when I planted these 2 trees.
"I just planted 2. One is a Yellow Delicious semi-dwarf and the other is
a Granny Smith. They are about 15 ft apart."

Followup, it is now spring 2011 and they are busting loose. Little buds of
leaves everywhere and you can see the initial stages of flowers inside
wanting to come out. The smaller one seems to have hit it's stride. I'm
pretty sure I need to nip off at least some of the apples still, but it
should be ok this year to let a few develop.

Any advice on how many? The Granny smith is bow about 7.5 ft tall and the
Golden Delicious is about 6ft. I don't expect to get eating apples this
year either. Squirrels will get'em but it's just gonna be fun to watch'em
while they last (grin).