Happy Monday friends!

I feel like I need a weekend after my weekend because it was so busy. But the business was for all good reasons, so I can’t really complain. The D.C. area lucked out with some amazing weather on Saturday, which was perfect timing for me and Will because we had fruit trees to plant. We decided at the beginning of the year that this would be a fun project.

About a month ago, we did some research and decided to try three apple trees and a peach tree for starters. Fruit trees in northern Virginia should be planted before spring’s first bloom or at the end of fall. We wanted to go ahead and get them planted this spring. I did more research about exactly what type of tree (size, age, etc.) to order. Here’s the scoop:

• We ordered our trees through the USA Nursery and they arrived by USPS after three days.
• The variety of fruit trees we ordered was 1 Fuji apple tree, 1 Golden Delicious apple tree, 1 Granny Smith apple tree and 1 Elbert’s Peach Tree.
• The Fuji and Golden Delicious are dwarf trees, so they’ll grow to about 6-9 feet tall. The Granny Smith and Peach tree are slightly larger, semi-dwarf trees, meaning they’ll reach 8-10 feet at maturity.
• The trees we got are known as “bare-root” trees, meaning they came with the root system exposed.
• Our trees are pretty young, measuring about three feet tall when they were planted.
• In addition to the trees, we bought soil, stakes and water since we did not have a direct source near the planting location.
• In total it was about $100 for the four trees, and the USA Nursery gave us two trees of our choice in addition to our order. I was impressed with how little we spent!

From our pictures, you can see that the trees pretty much just look like sticks stuck in the ground right now! We’ll be watering them regularly until we see signs of new growth. Fingers crossed they like their new home and start growing soon!

If you’re thinking about planting fruit trees soon, I’d check out the Almanac’s website. It’s a great starting point to help you figure out the different options. Also remember to consider your climate and the USDA hardiness zone of the soil in your location (click here to find out) because these factors effect what plants will grow best in your yard.

Have you planted fruit trees and was it a success? I’d love to know if you have any tips or experience with apple trees, since this is definitely a learning experience.

Cheers,

Sarah Camille