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We offer many different disease resistant apples on a variety of rootstocks. The advantage of dwarfing rootstocks is in ease of harvest & quick bearing. Small trees can be planted much closer together, allowing for more trees & greater variety in a small area.
The disadvantage of dwarfing rootstocks are smaller root systems, resulting in poorer anchoring. Dwarf trees with heavy fruit loads may need staking or other support to keep from falling over. Thinning heavy fruit loads can lessen this problem and will increase the size of remaining fruit. Another disadvantage to dwarf fruit trees are that with a smaller root system, they are more drought susceptible. Drought stressed trees can be more prone to disease & insect attack. Semi-dwarf & standard rootstocks are much better anchored & more drought tolerant. They can be kept small for ease of harvest & accomadation into smaller spaces by summer pruning. Pruning in summer - June to early August- has a naturally dwarfing effect on trees. Summer pruning avoids the stimulating effect that dormant pruning has on trees. With annual pruning when a tree is young, trees can be maintained as short as can be reached from the ground with arm outstreched. This can make harvest much easier. If bird predation is a problem, as it often is with cherries, mulberries, hazelnuts, etc., a compact tree is much easier to net.
Other factors affecting eventual size of fruit trees include the natural fertility of the site, fertilizer, age of the trees and variance between individual varieties. For example, some apple varieties are naturally vigorous - William's Pride, Gravenstein, Chehalis, King, Northern Spy, and Spitzenberg. Compact varieties include Liberty, Akane, and Winter Banana.
We offer apples on a variety of rootstocks. If we're out of a particular rootstock size, we will substitute the closest size available unless you request no substitutions.
EM26 rootstock is our dwarfing rootstock, giving a 8-12 ft. tree; EM7A, our semi-dwarf gives a 10-17 ft. tree. M111 rootstock is a slighter larger semi dwarf. Antanovka is our standard root stock which gives a full sized tree. It is very hardy. The apple varieties are listed below in order of ripening.
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