How to Plant an Apple Tree & Get Years of Delicious Harvests

Planting fruit trees is a wonderful way to leave your mark on this earth. When you plant a tree, it is the start of a story that could continue for generations. An apple tree can far outlive you and me, up to 120 years if properly taken care of!

You know what they say: the best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago. The next best time is today. So, let’s get out there and plant some trees!

Use this guide to learn how to plant an apple tree correctly so you can grow healthy trees, avoid common mistakes, and enjoy homegrown apples for years to come.

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Leave a Legacy

If you want to leave a legacy by planting trees on your property, we’re here to help. Whether you are planting one tree in your backyard or starting an entire orchard, getting it right from the beginning will save you time, money, and hassle.

These guides will take the guesswork out of growing fruit trees so you can start harvesting fruit as soon as possible:

• Guide to Fruit Tree Spacing in an Orchard

• Fertilization of Fruit Trees & Perennials

• When & How to Use Dormant Oil Spray

• How to Care for Apple Trees for Maximum Production (coming soon!)

• Best Method for Thinning Apple Trees (coming soon!)

• How to Grow a Cherry Tree

• How to Grow a Peach Tree

• Tapping Maple Trees for Maple Syrup (coming soon!)
  

You can also adopt an heirloom fruit tree at our farm, Idlewild Orchard, to help preserve rare and endangered heirloom fruit tree varieties! One hundred percent of the price goes toward purchasing and maintaining fruit trees in our preservation orchard.

When you adopt a tree, we will hang a permanent tag in your honor on the tree. Once the farm opens to the public, you’ll be able to visit your tree and get access to a free 10-pound bag of apples each year when the trees are producing. 

Varieties of Apples

A big advantage of growing your own apples is being able to choose different types of apples that you won’t find in grocery stores. When choosing which varieties to plant, think about how you plan to use your apples.

Do you want sweet, crisp apples for fresh eating or making apple cider? Tart apples for baking pies? Or perhaps a good storage variety that will keep throughout the winter?

Pro-Tip: I encourage you to plant more than one apple tree! Most apples need another apple tree to cross pollinate with for optimal fruit production. Plus, growing multiple varieties will help you discover which ones perform best in your climate while giving you a wider range of flavors and harvest times to enjoy. 

Growing Zones and Chill Hours

Apple trees need a certain amount of winter cold to grow and produce fruit. This is measured in chill hours, or the amount of hours at or below 40°F during the winter months.

If you live in a warm climate with relatively mild winters, don’t choose a variety that requires more chill hours than your growing zone receives or it can result in poor flowering and little to no fruit production. 

On the flip side, if you live in a colder climate, you need to choose varieties that can withstand the winter temperatures. Choose trees with a plant hardiness rating suitable for your growing zone. Plant hardiness refers to a perennial plant’s survivability in an area based on the average lowest temperature that it can experience during winter and survive.

Pro-Tip: Different varieties of apple trees will have different hardiness ratings and chill-hour requirements! Make sure that you check the chill hour and growing zone requirements of apple varieties and compare them to your climate. Not doing this is one of the biggest mistakes that people make that causes their fruit trees to fail to thrive. 

When to Plant Apple Trees

The ideal time to plant an apple tree is when the tree is dormant. This gives the tree an opportunity to establish its root system without having to support growth, leaves, or fruit. 

My favorite time to plant is in the late fall or early winter before the ground freezes. The wetter conditions help the soil settle around the roots, reducing air pockets. When spring arrives, the apple tree can come out of dormancy and immediately begin growing in its new location.

If you miss the fall planting window, don’t worry! Early spring is still a good time to plant apple trees, especially bare-root trees.

How to Plant an Apple Tree

The first step is choosing a good location to plant your tree(s). This tree could be growing in the same spot for decades, so choose wisely! 

Your trees need a location where they will get at least 6 to 8 hours of full sunlight daily. Don’t plant them too close to buildings or other trees where they will need to compete for sunlight, water, and nutrients. 

Soil quality is also a factor in selecting the best location. Apple trees prefer well-draining, loamy soil and don’t like low lying areas where water collects.

Once you’ve selected the perfect planting location, it’s time to get your hands dirty.

1. Plant Spacing - Consider the tree’s mature size and not just how small it looks today! Plan out and measure where you will plant all of your trees before you dig the first hole. (Use this link to learn proper fruit tree spacing based on the mature size.) For example, I planted my semi-dwarf apple trees 16 feet apart. 

2. Grid Over Rows - Instead of planting all of your trees in a straight line, consider planting several smaller rows to create a grid to allow for better pollination. Good pollination is important, and all fruit trees will do better with the good cross pollination that a grid creates.

3. Dig a Hole - Dig a hole as deep and twice as wide as the root ball of the sapling you are planting. Pro-Tip: Before you dig, consider potential underground hazards, like buried water or utility lines. You may even need to call your local utility company to locate buried lines.

4. Position the Sapling - Position the sapling in the center of the hole so that the soil level of the root ball is just slightly ABOVE the original soil level of the ground. Add or remove soil from the bottom of the hole until the planting depth is just right before moving to the next step.

5. Backfill the Hole With Soil - Using the native soil you dug out of the hole, backfill around the root ball, gently tamping it down. Try to avoid leaving any air pockets in the hole. Fill the hole until the soil tapers down slightly from the tree trunk to the original soil level. 

6. Water - Water the tree after planting if there is no hard freeze in the immediate forecast and continue to water it regularly. A newly planted tree requires 3 to 10 gallons of water a week, depending on the size of the sapling, the season, and the climate.

7. Mulch Around the Tree - Apply a 4 to 6 inch layer of mulch around the newly planted tree. Mulching suppresses weeds, retains moisture in the soil, and improves soil quality.

8. Remove the Nursery Tape - Make sure you remove any nursery tape and tags on the sapling! If you don’t, they can girdle the stem and kill your tree. 

9. Place a Tree Guard Around the Trunk - It’s a smart idea to use tree guards to protect young trees from girdling by hungry animals, especially in the winter months.

10. Intercropping - Consider intercropping your trees with plants that will flower around the same time that your fruit trees will flower to increase the overall food source for pollinators. For example, clover and field mustard can serve as cover crops around apple trees that also provide excellent early nectar and pollen sources for honeybees.

Caring for Your Growing Tree

Fruit trees need nutrients to support root development, healthy foliage, and fruit production. However, I do not recommend fertilizing newly planted apple trees at the time of planting or for at least three months afterwards.

Once the tree is established, applying a balanced fertilizer like Trifecta+ will help maintain healthy growth. When that time comes, read our blog post on fertilization of fruit trees to learn what time of year to apply fertilizers, how much fertilizer to use, and the most common mistakes to avoid.

Pruning is essential for maintaining healthy, productive apple trees. Without it, trees can become overgrown, difficult to harvest, and more susceptible to pests and diseases. 

But pruning can also be the most intimidating aspect of growing fruit trees, especially for beginners. That’s why I’ve created a comprehensive guide on how to prune an apple tree, so you can learn to prune with confidence!

Pest and Disease Control

Apple trees are susceptible to various pest and diseases, including scale, aphids, codling moths, apple scab, and fire blight. One of the preventative measures that I use in our orchard is dormant oil to combat fungal disease and reduce insect numbers. 

Horticultural oil does not control every apple pest and disease. Some may require separate management strategies. To learn more, read my guide on When and How to Use Dormant Oil Spray.