Apples in raised bed

15 years ago

I'm preparing to plant a dozen dwarf apple trees in my backyard (half acre lot). They should arrive in a few weeks (Cummins and Raintree) and I want to have everything ready. The plan is to put them into a raised bed made of tree trunk sections. The lawn slopes gently, so I've got the thicker sections (~12") on the downhill side and the thinner ones on the upper areas (~6-8").

The trees are disease resistant (though not all are resistant to everything...) and will have G16, G11, B9, and M27 rootstock. I'm planning to space them 4-5' apart and use slender spindle pruning.

I have two main questions:

1.) How wide should my raised beds be? I'm thinking 4-6', which would give each tree 2-3' on each side (2' for M27, 3' for the others). Beyond the bed, there would be at least some lawn for pathways (at least 4' wide).

2.) I'm planning to dig out most of the raised bed to break through the sod and remove the numerous rocks which fill the soil around here. Maybe I can go 1 to 1.5 feet deep, which will be a lot of shovel work. To replace the volume of the rocks and add some organic matter, I'm planning to mix a quantity of leaf mold. The town collects leaves in the fall, composts them, then puts them out in the spring for residents to use. They look like a blackish rich soil. Is this a reasonable course of action, or am I risking introducing disease to the trees- who knows what issues the trees which produced those leaves last year had... Would I be better off buying bags of topsoil, manure or peat?

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Comments (7)

Konrad___far_north
15 years ago
I think better to plant them in the ground, some rocks and clay is better
the too rich, you can mulch them as needed. It would make it easier
to work these trees on the ground for harvest and care.
bob_z6
Original Author
15 years ago
I remember seeing some previous posts which suggested that if there is a lot of stone or hard clay close to the surface that it should be broken up, so the roots can get in.

Are you suggesting I should just dig a big enough hole for the roots and maybe add some mulch on top in a 2-3 foot circle? Will the roots be able to break through, or will the trees be stunted?

That would definitely be less work, but I want to make sure the trees do as well as possible...
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Konrad___far_north
15 years ago
At one time I was taking about a 3 foot hill or hump off to make it more
level in my nursery, that spot had clay only, some trees I planted there, and they loved it.
I used to dig some up but not anymore, [too hard work] it was amazing how they could tap down into clay very deep, they would grow more tap roots and anchored much better then the one's grown in the soil. Since, I let some grow in there and are thriving, clay has allot of nutrient, I never fertilize them.
bob_z6
Original Author
15 years ago
Konrad, I'm glad to hear that they do fine that way- it would be a lot less work...What type of rootstock do you use? If you've been using something close to full size, like M111 or B118, the dwarf ones I'll be planting may have more trouble.
Konrad___far_north
15 years ago
Mine are all seedlings, I grow other fruit trees, plum cherries & pear, some honey berries and seem to do fine. I would just try and see. Do you get enough rain? On raised bed you would need more of it, if not, then you would need to do more watering.
bob_z6
Original Author
15 years ago
In spring and fall there is generally enough rain. During the summer I'll put out drip irrigation hoses, as I already do that for the garden and the berries. Maybe I should leave the raised bed framework (slightly lower though- 4-6"?) to contain the mulch and just dig holes for the actual trees and their support posts. Then the much (shredded leaves?) can kill the rest of the grass for a 2-3 foot radius.
bob_z6
Original Author
15 years ago
Does anyone see any issues with using the town provided leaf mold (well aged to a blackish soil) as a top-dress (under a shredded leaf much layer)? Would any pests or diseases survive through the composting process?