Growing Fruit Trees in Zone 6B

Growing fruit trees is a highly satisfying and productive venture. Being able to go outside and pick fresh organic fruit from your own tree is a delight to the senses. Zone 6B is an excellent zone to grow a number of fruit trees.

Planting fruit trees has dropped in recent years. People have less space and move more frequently, making them hesitant to make the investment.

Fruit trees have often been replaced by ornamentals. Sometimes these invasive species are not native to your area. These plants are more demanding, tender, and not as hardy because they are not suited to your climate.

Why Plant Fruit Trees?

• To get fresh, nutritious fruit

• Beautiful in the landscape

• Variety of sizes and species to choose from

• Provides food and shelter for birds and wildlife

Fruit trees are part of a self-sufficient garden that can supply fresh fruits and abundant opportunities for canning and preserving. You can read a detailed list of when I pick specific fruits in Zone 6B in my article on Getting Started With Perrenials.

Sizes of Trees

Fruit trees come in several sizes – dwarf, semi-dwarf, and standard.

Dwarf

Dwarf fruit trees are small and suited to city or suburban lots. Even two fruit trees as specimen plants in a front yard produce fruit for your family.

They produce beautiful blooms in spring and fruit in fall.

Dwarf trees only grow 6-8 feet high. They can be planted 10 feet apart. You can fit more trees and thus more variety in your space.

They are not as hardy and only live about twenty years.

Dwarf trees bear fruit the quickest, typically in two to four years. Dwarfs are easy to harvest standing on the ground or a small ladder.

Dwarf trees do not have as extensive a root system and may need support. You can use stakes or posts, or you can use the espalier method of planting along a fence or wall.

Semi-Dwarf

Semi-dwarf trees grow taller and range from 10-15 feet. They need to be planted at least 15 feet apart.

Semi dwarfs are hardy trees and come in a variety of species and types.

Semi-dwarfs take three to five years to bear fruit. You may need a ladder to reach your fruit at the top of the tree

Standards

Standards are those old-fashioned fruit trees that get to be 25-30 feet.

They are very hardy but take up to seven years to bear fruit however, they bear lots.

They require more labor during harvesting because of their size. Standards are often used in commercial orchards.

Planting Fruit Trees

When to Plant

Plant trees in the spring or fall when temperatures are cool. Avoid planting during a hard frost, but otherwise, you can put them in the ground during mid-fall or early winter.

You can also plant in spring as soon as the ground can be worked.

Read our blog on getting started with perennials.

Location, Location, Location!

As we all know location is extremely important. Fruit trees need full-day sun. They also like an area where there is good airflow.

Since they are perennials, they need a permanent location so give it some thought. Even if you are an urban dweller and plant a dwarf tree in a big pot you don’t want to have to drag it around every day.

The other thing to consider is where you are in Zone 6B. I am from Kentucky where we have humid summers and need to watch out for fungal diseases.

However, you may be in Zone 6B in Utah where the air is much dryer, and irrigation and providing moisture is a big issue. So, keep your micro-climates in mind when you select your location and your tree variety.

Zone 6B is a happy home to apples, pears, cherries, and plums. We can have some problems growing peaches and nectarines. This is because they flower early and are often hit by late frost.

Soil Requirements

Fruit trees require rich, fertile soil.

Do a soil test before planting to be sure that your trees will have what they need.

Read our blog on soil testing.

Fruit trees grow best at a pH between 6.5 and 7.0. If your pH level is not in that range, no worries, pH is a fairly easy fix.

Amend your soil before putting your tree in the ground to give it a healthy foundation. See my secret sauce below!

Continue to add nutrients for the first three years to get your trees off to the best start. In addition, healthy trees will bear fruit sooner.

Preparing the Tree

If you ordered your trees online, they may have become a bit dehydrated while in the mail. Soak the tree’s roots for a few hours before planting.

If you are purchasing locally you will want to check the roots in the pot to make sure they are not rootbound. Trim off any roots that are making a circle and wrapping themselves around other roots.

My beautiful Bruce plum tree started off as an unhealthy tree found on the discount table at Tractor Supply Company.

How to Plant a Fruit Tree

The first thing I do is remove the sod or top layer of the soil. I toss this on my compost pile because it has grass and weed roots that can grow back.

The most important thing about planting a fruit tree is the hole. Think of it as your tree’s home. If you get your tree off to a good start, then it will reward you for many years.

Dig a hole at least twice as wide as the diameter of your plant’s roots and at least 2 feet deep.

The bigger the hole, the happier your tree will be. All that lose dirt will help it spread its roots out and grow.

As you dig the hole, remove the dirt and place it in a wheelbarrow or large muck bucket. Take out any rocks from the soil and throw them in your rock pile.

Ame’s Secret Sauce Recipe

I’ve come up with a fabulous formula for planting my fruit trees.

Mix the following ingredients together. This will produce a soil that is light, holds moisture, and provides nutrients.

• Soil from the hole

• A gallon tub of peat moss

• A gallon tub of well-aged compost

• Two cups bonemeal

• Two cups fish meal in the spring only (we don’t want extra nitrogen in a fall planting)

While this method takes more time than digging a hole and sticking in a tree, it will pay off huge dividends in the long run.

The peat moss will add texture and helps regulate the moisture level in the soil.

Compost provides micro and macronutrients that will get your tree off to a great start.

Bone meal is high in phosphorus and great for root growth. You want to get the roots off to a good start so they will anchor the tree and start pulling up nutrients from the soil.

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Getting Your Tree in the Ground

Put about six inches of my formula mix at the bottom of the hole. Hold the tree so that the scion is just above the ground.

That is the bump in the trunk where the graft was made. Never put that bump below the surface of the soil.

Next use a metal fence post, human, or stick to hold your tree upright. Shovel your soil mix around the roots.

Tamp the soil down so that it is firm around the roots.  You don’t want the tree to wiggle back and forth.

If you have soil leftover, then spread it around the tree about two feet from the trunk.

Give your tree about two gallons of water.

Mulch around your tree in a 4-foot circumference to keep weeds at bay. Don’t put any mulch close to the tree’s trunk. Keep it six inches away to keep rodents and insects from hiding near the tree and chewing on the trunk.

Caring for Your Fruit Tree

Water

Water the tree well its first year. It will need about an inch of rain or about two gallons of water each week for a young tree.

A good mulch around the base of the tree will help keep moisture in.

Keep your baby trees hydrated

I’ve used this 15 gallon self watering bag to reduce work and keep young trees watered during a dry spell.

Mulch

Straw and wood chips both make a good organic covering. When using organic mulches keep the mulch away from the tree trunk about six inches. This helps to prevent disease and to keep rodents from taking up residence.

I have also used circular mulch made from recycled tires. The material is woven so it stops the grass from growing but allows for water to seep through. They contain a slit on one side to easily place around the tree.

Protection

If you are in an area, say near a field, that may have a high population of mice and rabbits then you may need tree trunk protection. A tree guard is a plastic wrap with holes in it that is wound loosely around the trunk.

In addition, it offers the tree protection from wind and cold.  However, in warm humid weather they can contribute to fungal buildup and should be avoided.

If you are in an area with lots of deer then you may want to build a cage around your young trees. Use woven fencing to make a circle about one foot from the tree trunk. Use metal fencing posts to keep them in place.

Maintenance

The first few years your tree will need just a little maintenance.

Keep it well watered and give it a good organic liquid fertilizer in the spring. Fish emulsion is a good choice.

Pull back your mulch and add a three-inch layer of compost around the tree. Remember the roots of your young tree go out several feet from the trunk. If your soil is low in phosphorus and/or calcium sprinkle a pound of bone meal around each tree along with the compost.

Keep the compost six inches from the trunk. When you are done cover the compost with your mulch.

No need to dig in the compost. Let the microbes and worms do the work.

Staking

Your young tree may need staking to help it grow strong and strait. This is typically needed for the first couple of years until the roots are firmly established.

An espalier is a form of trellising by training the branches of the tree along horizontal wires. Apples and pears do well on trellises. 

Pruning

As your tree grows you will want to train it so it has a nice shape. You want the tree to be open so that sunlight and air can get in.

In late winter, prune out dead or broken branches. Remove any branches that are crossing in front of others.

Pruning is important for fruit development and helps to keep down diseases by having good air circulation.

Pollinators

Without pollinators you won’t get any apples, so plan to put your trees near an area where bees and butterflies visit. Your trees will benefit from local insects and will attract pollinators when they bloom.

Cover Crops

Seeding cover crops in the orchard is a popular way to provide nutrition and weed protection. Cover crops let you add nitrogen and other nutrients to your orchard. They also look attractive and help you keep down on the mowing.

Clover is a perfect cover crop for orchards. Clover adds nitrogen to the soil, chokes out weeds, entices pollinators, helps with erosion, and is high-quality food for livestock.

Managing Your Orchard with Livestock

Livestock in the orchard is a mixed blessing in part depending on the species and time of year. Some livestock species are helpful in the orchard, and some are very unhelpful!

Livestock can be part of your long-term nutrient and pest management solution.

The key to having livestock in the orchard is to keep an eye on them. Especially when they are introduced. If they start damaging trees move them out and try another time.

Remember if there is a nice thick cover crop that will often distract them.

Poultry

Poultry are helpful in an orchard. Waterfowl, such as geese and ducks are grazing birds but will also readily eat grubs and other pests.

Chickens are much more suited to orchard work versus garden work. They will scratch at the soil, which will aerate and mix in the minerals on the surface. They greedily gobble up larvae from pests.

I keep my chickens in chicken tractors. For their protection and my gardens. I pull the tractors around the orchard and garden areas.

Chickens in the orchard at Fox Run EEC

Sheep

Sheep are predominantly grazers and are not as interested in nibbling on your trees. That said they are more trustworthy around older established trees than newly planted ones.

Sheep typically will eat the grass, weeds, and cover crop and keep everything nicely mowed.

Rotating your sheep in and out of the orchard as needed will keep the sheep from overgrazing or getting sick from the rich grasses.

Goats

Goats cannot be trusted in an orchard due to their mischievous nature and the fact that they are browsers. They will climb on your apple trees for a nice snack of twigs, buds, and fruit.

Horses

I’ve heard that well-behaved horses don’t bother the trees in an orchard. This makes me chuckle because my rescue horse Rocket is not, quote-unquote, well behaved!

Rocket does have access to the orchard area most of the year as he has access to the whole barnyard. He’s a tad spoiled. He has used more than one tree as a rubbing post.

One benefit of livestock in the orchard is manure. Right where you need it. I rake it so that it’s along the drip line of the tree and let it decompose.

I am an affiliate with Zero Waste Outlet and use their products every day. When I moved recently I was glad to be able to purchase sustainable products for my home.

 Take Away

Growing fruit trees is a great way to become more sustainable. We can grow a variety of fruits in Zone 6B.

Author, Ame Vanorio is the director of Fox Run Environmental Education Center and a long-time organic farmer.