Steve McShane here with a small segment on how to buy a fruit tree. Now there's no reason in the world why you shouldn't have a fruit tree in your garden.
Not only are they beautiful but they will produce fruit for you and help feed your family with something very healthy, which is a good lesson for kids too.
When you start, consider a Semi-Dwarf tree, they're going to get to 20 or 30 feet, we do have a list here at the nursery. It gives you the variety, it will talk about if it is standard or Semi-dwarf. It will give you the number of chill hours, when it ripens in the season and the one of the evaluations by some of our master fruit tasters.
One of the important things to consider are the number of chill hours. Fruit trees perform best when you pay attention to the number of hours below 45 degrees that the tree will get on an average year. In Salinas, California: 500/450 hours, in Pacific Grove, California or nearer to the Coast: maybe 200. Keeping that in mind, ask one of our professionals and we'll share more.
Here at the Nursery, everything is divided by variety. Most trees will have some sort of placard like this. This Rainier here talks about when in the season it ripens, it will talk about if it needs a pollenizer. It will be a description of the fruit and maybe a few other nuggets of information.
One of the things that I will always look at is that I will confirm on the tag, what it is I am buying. In the case of this Bing-Cherry, on the back, similar information. When will it ripen, how many hours of chill is needed, and when in the season it will start performing for you.
Once you've decided on a tree, make sure it has at least 7 or 8 hours of sun per day. If it requires a pollenizer, don't be afraid to plant two trees in the same hole. So say several varieties of cherries on one stalk.
Always use a high grade planting mix, something that's got a real well balanced ingredient list and when you get started, use a starter fertilizer. I'm a big fan of an organic fertilizer like this Dr. Earth. It's naturally slow release, once you've applied some at planting, you'll need to apply a little more through the season. Some of the more important times to feed are the Spring and the Fall. Spring is when leaf and stem growth is prominent and Fall is when root growth is prominent.
The last thing I'd mention is this product right here, this is mycorrhizae. This is a natural and organic product that acts as a stimulant for roots. It's a beneficial fungus that attaches to the roots and sends out little microscopic hairs called hyphae. Those hairs capture nutrients and water and bring it to the root in exchange the root gives the fungus sugar. It doubles of triples the root system, helping your trees more than you know.
So a beautiful cherry like this could be yours and here along the Central Coast, you've got lots and lots of options. We've got plenty of helpful videos here and great information on our website. Best of all - we have a very helpful staff at our full service nursery.
McShane's Nursery and Landscape Supply Copyright 2010
Landon Wolf Copyright 2010
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