Fruit trees placement - Ask Extension
HI! I'm excited about my new fruit trees that arrived yesterday. One Rlberta peach, stella cherry, d'anjou pear, and one 2 in 1 apple tree. I'm wonder...
Knowledgebase
Fruit trees placement #861567
Asked March 15, 2024, 12:03 PM EDT
HI! I'm excited about my new fruit trees that arrived yesterday. One Rlberta peach, stella cherry, d'anjou pear, and one 2 in 1 apple tree. I'm wondering how far apart should they be planted from each other. I was going to plant along the back fence. The entire are gets full sun. According to the directions each one except the pear doesn't need a second tree. I'm in a two person household and ont need a monstrous amount of harvest to get a second tree for the rest.
Thank you in advance.
Prince George's County Maryland
Expert Response
Tree spacing can depend on whether the trees are dwarf or semi-dwarf grafts, since mature heights/widths vary depending on how dwarfing the root stock is. If the tag/label does not say, it's probably safe to assume they are semi-dwarf and might mature in the general range of 15 feet high, with a similar width, though this can vary a little with pruning techniques. As a generalization, space compact fruit trees about 10 to 15 feet apart (from one trunk to another) to give the trees enough room for good air circulation between them and so they don't compete for sunlight and root resources. Explore our fruit pages for more information about their cultivation, including nuances about spacing as it relates to fruit type and cultivar. We are currently revising the fruit section of our web content and some pages will be updated soon (we hope within a few weeks), in case you notice changes when you revisit some pages.
Our reference information suggests that Anjou (d'Anjou) pear is not self-pollinating and requires a second European pear variety to pollinate it for fruit. Some references say it's partially self-pollinating, in which case some fruit development may occur but the best fruiting will still result from having a compatible pollinator nearby.
Peaches are indeed self-pollinating, as are 'Stella' cherries. Presumably, the two apples grafted onto the same tree are compatible pollen partners so they bloom at the same time and one of the two is not pollen-sterile, as a handful of apple varieties are.
If you haven't already, we recommend you research what typical problems arise with each of these fruit types, so you can be prepared to prevent or treat pest and disease issues as they arise. Fruit trees are high-maintenance food crops and tend to be vulnerable to several insect and fungal/bacterial problems over the course of each year. Prevention is key, since few problems can be cured once they set in, and a crop might be ruined by certain ailments that are not caught in time. If you opt to use organic pesticides, be aware that they are potentially more expensive and don't always work as well as synthetic alternatives. Either way, preventative treatments require multiple applications throughout much of the growing season since different pests and diseases pose risks at different times.
Miri
Our reference information suggests that Anjou (d'Anjou) pear is not self-pollinating and requires a second European pear variety to pollinate it for fruit. Some references say it's partially self-pollinating, in which case some fruit development may occur but the best fruiting will still result from having a compatible pollinator nearby.
Peaches are indeed self-pollinating, as are 'Stella' cherries. Presumably, the two apples grafted onto the same tree are compatible pollen partners so they bloom at the same time and one of the two is not pollen-sterile, as a handful of apple varieties are.
If you haven't already, we recommend you research what typical problems arise with each of these fruit types, so you can be prepared to prevent or treat pest and disease issues as they arise. Fruit trees are high-maintenance food crops and tend to be vulnerable to several insect and fungal/bacterial problems over the course of each year. Prevention is key, since few problems can be cured once they set in, and a crop might be ruined by certain ailments that are not caught in time. If you opt to use organic pesticides, be aware that they are potentially more expensive and don't always work as well as synthetic alternatives. Either way, preventative treatments require multiple applications throughout much of the growing season since different pests and diseases pose risks at different times.
Miri
