how can I plant a hedge of apple trees?(with photo)

17 years ago

I am a newbie to apple trees please help!

I have 2 apple trees that I bought for $35.00(for both) from a local greenhouse they are both on semi-dwarf root stock(I have no idea what the root stock name is and can't find the tags they came with). one I remember is a Cortland and can't remember the name of the other, I wanted one for pies and one for eating. I would like to plant more apple trees and seen on this forum that you can plant a hedge of apple trees. The trees I have are about 6/7 foot tall. Can I plant more apple trees in with these to make a hedge or should I start over with smaller ones?

In the photo I have circled the apple trees in green as they are hard to see. also the fence is 27' not 21'

{{gwi:62660}}

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Comments (9)

plumfan
17 years ago
When you say they are semidwarf and are already 6 feet tall, I would venture that 95% sure they will end up needing at least 15 to 20 feet spacing at the very minimum if you do not summer prune them aggressively. If you do commit to aggressive summer action, you could likely get away with 10 or less feet apart, but for only as long as you live there. If you sell to new people, they may just let them go wild and end up "taking out the overgrown mess".

Applenut could perhaps give you some better guess-timates on spacing, considering your unkown rootstock types. Them are just my thoughts.

Oh, your image does not display from photobucket.
richie_usa
17 years ago
You can plant fruit trees 18 inches apart! But you have to prune them aggressively every summer! Check out the links below for more information. Your semi-dwarf apple trees are OK for a hedge.

P.S. Your photo does not show up here.

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Fruit Trees in Limited Space
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Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures of fruit trees planted in the same hole
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17 years ago
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17 years ago
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jerry55
16 years ago
i just moved to louisiana and can not find any Hedge Apples whats up with that
were can i get some
altadenamara
16 years ago
Hedge apple trees are the same as other apple trees, but on a dwarf or semi-dwarf rootstock. The trick is to get them all on the same size dwarf root stock. I replaced a boxwood hedge last winter with apple trees planted four feet apart, on MM111 rootstock. The links above tell how to do it.
All the local nurseries had were the same low chill cultivars, which really wasnÂt needed. Most of my apple trees came from Trees of Antiquity and Raintree nursery. They sent out large, well branched young trees. Some bench grafts for a separate hedge came from Kuffelcreek and Greenmantle nursery. All of KuffelcreekÂs bench grafts lived, and are now 5-6 feet tall. GreenmantleÂs bench grafts are half that size, and one third of them died.
Scott F Smith
16 years ago
Alta, thats interesting that your Greenmantle grafts also did not do so good. Both of mine died that I got this spring. I complained and just got some uppity letter from them basically stating it was all my fault for overwatering them; I only watered them in the drought period.

Scott

how can I plant a hedge of apple trees?(with photo)

Comments (9)

plumfan

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