Sorry, I don't know the answer to your question, but what a beautiful plot of land! How large is it?

I'm looking for something bigger than my 6000 square foot lot now that the fruit growing bug has got me. I live in Vancouver in the Cascade Park neighborhood.

estreya:

I haven't tried Irish Spring, but I did try Cashmere Bouquet, which has an odor that is arguably even more foul. I drilled holes in the bars, and hung them all over the fruit trees and in the garden area. So far as I could determine, the deterrent effect was zero. If you want to shave your bars and put them around the base of the trees, it will do them no real harm.

I am afraid if you have a significant deer population in such an exposed location, you are going to have to erect strong hogwire fences around your trees, at least until they grow large and strong enough to resist antler rubbing and the branches grow out of reach. Deer eat tender fruit tree branches too. I am surprised your little trees made it this far without the deer eating them up. I have a dickens of a time keeping them away, particularly from sweet cherries and plums, although they will eat apple shoots too.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Don, thank you so much for your assurances. Based on the "may or may not help but can't do any harm" principle, i've shaved little bits on the field grass around each tree. Why not, right?

Meanwhile, i've been able to keep deer browsing to a minimum this year with a product called "Deer Out." It's made a huge difference on my dogwoods, and even the roses came through the season relatively unscathed. I've seen the occasional nip, but nothing too terribly severe for the most part.

Although my trees are still too wee to produce fruit, this was the response i got regarding whether or not it would compromise my fledgling harvest:

"Thank you for your interest in DEER OUT...Yes you can spray all your edible fruits and vegetable's...Just be sure to not spray within a week of harvest otherwise if you did not wash them thoroughly, you may taste it...We have some of the largest commercial farmers spraying DEER OUT on food crops....It's all natural food based ingredients."

Although you've probably tried everything at this point, you may want to give that a whirl if it's new to you ...

Murky, thanks for your nice comment. Every single morning, i look out and feel utterly grateful to see such views through the window glass. It's a five acre parcel, a work in progress, and the fruit trees represent this years effort. Hubby and i wait with baited breath for when (dare i say when and not if?) they all bloom come Spring ...

Well I wish you a bountiful harvest.

Just to avoid too much disappointment, don't expect them all to bloom the first season after planting. My sweet cherry didnt' bloom until the 3rd season.

If you're still excited about fruit and haven't yet filled your orchard, you may consider going to the All About Fruit Show in 2 weeks near Milwaukie oregon. Its hosted by the Home Orchard Society.

They have an unbelievalbe spread of literally hundreds of varieties of apple, pear, and other fresh fruit to sample. They'll also take orders for custom bench-grafted fruit trees for $10 each that you can pick up in the spring.

If that's overwhelming or too much of a drive, Portland nursery has their apple tasting the same weekend. They have more like 50 varieties, but they also sell fresh apples at a pretty good price. The lines can make it a bit of a zoo though.

Here is a link that might be useful: All About Fruit show link on HOS page

Ah, i'm glad you braced me for that, Murky. I have to confess, these 15 trees were not planted at the most advantageous time of year. Many folks on these boards and elsewhere, people who have more knowledge in their pinky fingers than i could ever hope to have in even my greenest of tumbs, advised me not to plant in July. But i have a stubborn streak. So i planted till my hands were raw, and although i have no visibility into the roots, i THINK (knock wood) i might have pulled it off. Still, it's reassuring to know that if i DON'T see blooms this coming Spring, it's not necessarily an indicator of total incompetence and doomed trees. :)

As for the Home Orchard Society, thank you for guiding me in that direction! What a wealth of information to be found there ...

Meanwhile, i wish you lots of luck in your hunt for a larger space. I'm not familiar with the Cascade Park area, but it must be lovely if you have it planted up as you do. Still, new beginnings can be so very rewarding ...

Cheers and happy growing,

estreya

As a brief follow-up, i think the soap shavings are working! It's been raining steady here for days now (which i'm assuming washed any "Deer Out" off the foliage), but not a single new nip on anything have i found! Fruit trees, dogwoods, roses (even the tender new growth) have all been spared.

If you planted those trees in July and those pictures are recent, it looks like they're in good shape and you're past the stage where they were most vulnerable.

Well, some look better than others, but nothing's sunk, or wilted too terribly, or totally defoliated. Even though i'm now braced to not expect it, that first bloom will really ease my mind ... :)

Don't hold up blooming as the embodiment of health. In fact in can be quite the opposite, as some trees respond to stress in the form of a last ditch effort to pass on their genes by fruiting.

That's so fascinating! I'd read that suckers on regular trees can be a stress reaction as well. It all really is so interesting ... so much to learn!