The apple tree is a rather capricious tree, and first of all you need to ask yourself not only about which varieties to plant, but also how to plant the apple trees correctly. Indeed, it is from a professional planting that the time of the first harvest depends on 80%. But more on that later, you first need to choose a good seedling.
What to look for when buying an apple tree seedling
The tree should be with a healthy bark, about 1.5 m high. The vaccine is at a distance of 7-8 cm from the root, a crown with 4-5 branches.
There should be many roots. Choose only winter-hardy varieties. Be sure to find out where the seedlings are on the south
side, this is especially important for its fruiting. The fact is that when planting a seedling, it is necessary to place it on the cardinal points in the same way as it grew in a nursery. Otherwise, the tree will take root for a long time and will bear fruit several years later.
What you should know about when choosing a planting site for a seedling
If there are leaves on the apple tree, be sure to remove them. When deciding how and what to plant in the garden, one cannot skimp on the space for the future tree, since each plant regains its place under the sun. And if the apple trees are closely planted, they begin to oppress each other. For the same reason, one should not plant a seedling near an adult tree. Well, this is also not recommended to do this near garden paths, so that branches of an already grown tree do not block the passage later. It is still undesirable to grow apple trees in places where groundwater is located high . In this tree, the root system develops in two directions: horizontal and vertical. Horizontal roots provide rainwater and various nutrients to the fertile layer. Vertical ensure the stability of the apple tree. If the subsoil waters are high, then the vertical roots, reaching them, stop growing and decay, which means that the “age” of such a tree will be short-lived.
How to plant apple trees in a permanent place
So, correctly marking the site, proceed to dig a hole for landing. The depth is 1 meter, the width is 1-1.5 m. The pit should be filled up to half with a mixture of compost, peat and humus. Next, add plain soil so that the root neck is above the ground. It is advisable to drive a wooden stake in the center of the pit before planting, in order to fix the seedling later. And never do this after planting a tree: you can damage the root system. Now gently tamp the ground in the center, and tighten the edges more firmly.
How to plant apple trees if their growth is unknown to the cardinal points in the nursery
If you do not know exactly how the seedling grew in the nursery, then the grafted branch should be sent to the south side. If the scion is in the center of the stock, then locate the thickest root to the south. So it will be more likely that the tree is planted correctly. Otherwise, the incorrectly “oriented” seedling will take longer to take root, and it will begin to bear fruit 2-3 years later, it happens that 10 years the tree grows idle.
After planting, the entire pit must be shed with water until the soil absorbs it. Sometimes it takes up to 70 liters. Then you need to mulch the landing site, for this use dry grass and humus. And somewhere around 5-7 days you can forget about the tree. But after this time, the landing site must be shed again abundantly with water. Now, you know how to plant apple trees and how to do it right.