decogrl: The time to ID fruits is when they fruit, not when they first leaf out in spring. You can easily distinguish between apples and cherries/plums from the leaves and bark, but what's the rush? Do some pruning for shape and sun penetration, the watch the fruits begin to form. Thin the apples to one per cluster. Then watch them as they begin to ripen out. Of the photos you list, #1 is an apple, #2 is a plum, #3 looks like a plum leaf of some type, and #4 won't come up. Someone will probably be able to ID the fruits for you when they are close to mature if they are commonly planted in your area. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Lind, I'm pretty sensitive to drainage because I've lost so many trees to it. A few years ago I got tired of pulling out dead trees, so I installed a field tile in most of the orchard area. It drains a lot of sub-surface water into a neighbor's pond. The tile stopped trees from dying but many trees still weren't thriving, so I've been slowly converting more trees to mounds. It's just what I have to do here. When I pull one out, I build a mound if I plan to go back w/ a peach. In my area, which may be different from MD, the soil stays wet from about Nov. thru June of the following year. It's the months of April, May, and June that the soggy soil does the trees in. In the past I've made my mounds out of regular native soil because it's free. This has worked very well for me. Below is an old photo I took this Spring. The tree directly to the left of my son was just starting it's second leaf/year. The tree in the mound on the right was also starting it's second leaf. However, the one on the right was not in a mound the first year and suffered stunting. So last fall, I dug it out, built a mound, and replanted. This picture was taken before either tree had put on any appreciable second leaf shoot growth. Both trees were the same size at purchase (bout 3/4"). My other trees in mounds perform similarly. Lately, I'm running out of places to dig, so I've been experimenting using wood chips as a base and putting soil on top as the growing medium. By the textbooks, this is a no no. But like I say, this is an experiment. This week I just got through building 10 more mounds for more trees. Rented a Dingo to build the mounds. Have 18 peach trees coming for next season, and have a mound for every one.

I'm skeptical about the velvety remark. He said slightly when asked that specific question and didn't include it in his original description. Could be some mold growth giving that appearance I would ask him to check again but he may not want to be grilled and I want to be amicable.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><md>Thanks, with my pictures I have on my phone, I was going to cut a small branch section off and take it to my local Nursery. I know the guy personally, and he knows trees, someday, all in due time. I was hoping to get a positive Id of the tree through this Houzz gardenweb section, without having to to do so. When I looked up the ash tree varieties however, it really looked like a match. The specs specified that particular tree was going to be a small variety of the ash, and the leaves, and bark were a close match as well. Oh well, all in due time, and time will tell. cheers, and thanks.