new to forum and i need advise

[silverfilly]

Hello everyone, I just joined through a link from BYC. Did not know you guys were here.

We just recently bought some land 15 acres and Id like to plant some trees. Id like apple, peach, pear, and walnut. I am in zone 5 here in Kansas, What are some good varieties that grow here? when is the best time to order them and plant them? where is a good place to get them? Any ideas of other fruit or nut tree that grow well in KS? Id like the fruit trees to be dwarfs.

Sorry for all the questions but this was the first year I have ever even had a garden let alone tring to grow any fruit trees.

Anouther quaestion we currently have a crabapple tree, is there any thing I can do with crab apples? Is there any use for hedge apples?

Thanks Kimberly

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Hi and welcome!

It is kinda slow around here this week, so I thought I'd at least step up and offer what little advice I have.

I would recommend you find a good plant nursery in your area. Search on-line for one that carries fruit trees and nut trees. They most likely will have very good advice for your region and appropriate plants.

I think you can make crabapple jelly. I have no idea what a hedge apple is!

Oh, and congrats on 15 acres!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I found this on hedge apples:

The "hedge apples" are not an important source of food for wildlife as most birds and animals find the fruit unpalatable. (However, the thorny trees do provide nesting and cover for wildlife.)

The use of the hedge apples for insect control is one of the most enduring pest management home remedies. Placement of hedge apples around the foundation or inside the basement is claimed to provide relief from cockroaches, spiders, boxelder bugs, crickets and other pests.

I guess that's what you call strange fruit!

 

[patandchickens]

Hi, welcome to TEG

You're around the colder limit of peaches and pears so I would strongly suggest finding out exactly what grows well where you are - extension service, local gardeners, and/or INFORMED local nursery (like, the kind that actually grows their own plants - most don't). Apples you will have more choice of; it is worth considering disease resistance as well as flavor/type/timing, and I'd really suggest TASTING a variety before planting it if it's not already familiar to you. Might be worth going round to local commercial orchards and seeing what they still have for sale that you could sample

You'd probably be best off doing any actual planting of fruit trees in the spring, though. Early, when they are still bare of leaves. Fall planting works better in areas with milder winters; you can try it, especially if the area is protected from wind, but it's more of a gamble.

HOWEVER I would strongly recommend that you NOT plant any trees til you have been through one FULL YEAR OF ALL FOUR SEASONS on the property. You would be surprised how different an area can be from one season to the next, and fruit trees are too expensive and too slow-growing to waste on a site that turns out to be a swamp in April or an oven in July or other things like that. And you dont want to be surprised, believe me Fruit *bushes*, like gooseberries, currants, bramble-type berries, bush cherries, etc are probably safer to plant next spring, if you feel you have to plant SOMETHING, b/c you will have reasonable success moving them if it should become necessary (and they're cheaper )

Crabapples make good jelly, or spiced crabapples (canned whole or in rings), or when they are greener (like earlier in the season) you can use the pectin from them to help make other kinds of fruit jellies. "Hedge apples", assuming you mean osage orange rather than just wild apple trees, I'm not sure they're edible in any way, but some people use the fruits as interestingly scented decor items and if cut back appropriately the trees themselves make good hedges and windbreaks.

Have fun,

Pat