Dwarf trees should stay about 10' with a little pruning. Semi-dwarf trees stay around 15' with a little pruning, but with a lot of pruning you can keep them at around 10'.

You can espalier apples and have a lot of trees in small spaces not much bigger than a fence or grape trellis. I have a lawnmower's width between my espaliers and my garden and a lawnmower's width between the espaliers and what should be a strawberry patch on the other side.

Crabapples should be fine pollinators.

I don't think I'd order from Arbor Day Foundation.
You can read for yourself. Seems their positive reviews are based more on them being a good organization than sending what you ordered or having a good success rate.

I'm a firm believer in getting trees that were created close by. Mainly I believe that for the shipping time the trees suffer but also because of weather and soil type. For us that means Stark Brothers (where you'll pay IL tax) and Grandpa's Orchard. There may be others close that I haven't found yet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Watchdog Arbor Day Foundation

ljezuit-
I agree with myk1 that an espaliered tree might be the best use of space for you. Or perhaps a couple of small dwarf trees? (Many of us here on this board want more than just one!) Or perhaps you could get a multigrafted tree (5-1) which has multiple varieties on 1 tree, which is also good for pollination.

I like ordering from solid nurseries like:
www.acnursery.com
www.cumminsnursery.com
www.treesofantiquity.com
www.raintreenursery.com
I would go to each of those sites and get on their mailing lists so you can get a catalog. I would place my order this winter and plant it in the spring.

Again I agree with myk1 that the Arbor Day Foundation may not be the best way to go here. My only fear is that last time I put a link to a negative nursery review on the Garden Watch Dog, the moderators here removed the link (for legal purposes?). So, in case that happens, simply Google the name of the Nursery and then the word "Scoop"... so Google "Arbor Day Foundation Scoop" or "Adams County Nursery scoop".

Good luck,
-Glenn

I'll recommend Honeycrisp for our area, at least for fresh eating it is hard to beat and usually gets a premium price in the grocery stores so it is nice to be able to grow your own. Instead of planting under the tree, grow the tree fairly close to the ground so you don't have to get on a ladder to pick the fruit. You can plant two trees fairly close together if you don't have a lot of room but want more variety or get a multi-graft from a place like Raintree.

Thank you for all the great information. I read some information on honeycrisp and that sounds like a good one. Now my problem would be to find one locally. myk1 are either of those in IL? I could not find them online and would love to buy locally. I know the box stores carry some trees but would prefer to find one elsewhere.

I got mine from grandpas orchard and they have done well, they are in coloma, michigan and only spend 1 day in transit. You want bare root stock and you can only get that in the spring.

I'm amazed, Grandpa's doesn't have Honeycrisp but Stark does. http://www.starkbros.com
I guess Stark is coming around to carrying more than their own branded varieties.

Grandpa's is, http://www.grandpasorchard.com/
I usually use Stark but they don't have what I want this year so I'm going to Grandpa's. I've always had good luck with Stark apples not only a long time ago but this year I saw 4 for me and 4 for my niece (2 apples, 1 peach, 1 apricot for her). Other than the peach which was having deer problems the last time I saw it they were all doing pretty good.

Grandpas will probably have them (hcrisp)in the spring. My hcrisp came from there, lots of trees sold out quick. I think they can get you any tree you want if you contact them. They are a very large outfit.

Since you probably won't order it until this winter, now would be a good time to visit orchards in your area and start doing taste testings. I prefer tart apples over sweet apples, but I didn't know that when I first started growing fruit trees. Get out there and start tasting!

Right. Stay away from the big box stores. They're infamous for mislabeling varieties, and even selling plants that won't survive or mature fruit in your area. Not to mention bad crotch angles, inability to answer questions, and overall poorer quality. -Glenn

Thank you for all the help. I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion for a semi dwarf disease resistant variety. We looked at the dwarf honeycrisp and my wife did not like the look of the 10 year old trees. She was thinking more along the lines of a small rounded tree(Which would serve to block a neighbors window) and I was thinking since I am new to apple trees I should start with something that would require much less maintenance.

Thanks in advance

For disease resistance you can't get better than Liberty. It is a medium red apple, and like Ein Sheimer makes wonderful fragrant applesauce even from small green apples. It is usually free from codling moth damage as well, because it is a dense (hard) apple. Very good fresh too.

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Queen Cox from Raintree has been very disease-free too, no codling moth. It has a fragrant flavor, but don't remember cooking it, it's a relatively new tree. Last year it was totally loaded and fell over. That could be from vole damage to the roots. I left a hose running under it a long time to hopefully drown attackers and we propped it up. It's still a rather small rounded tree. This year it has just a few apples, which is to be expected after being completely loaded last year. (The dead leaves are on the bamboo poles I use around the tree to deter the deer.)

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Those are beutiful trees and apples. Do you have pictures of the whole tree? Also what size are they (Dwarf, semi?) Thanks!

I agree with Hemmancy that Liberty is a very good disease resistant apple. Here in RI, Cedar Apple Rust is my biggest disease threat, and Liberty does a good job at holding it at bay. If you like Cortland or MacIntosh apples, you like Liberty.

But, I think I'm more impressed with Williams Pride. For me, it's been immune to CAR... and CAR immunity is almost unheard of. It's also a tasty early-ripening apple, which is a combination which is hard to find. The taste consensus here on this board always comes back even more favorable for WP than Liberty. Really, I just give my WP a dormant oil spray, and then bag the apples, and that's it. One spray a year. From my limited experience with this tree (I'm only in my 2nd year with it, but I listen to many other people with similar experiences) I am really amazed by it.

I haven't faced coddling moth yet, so I can't speak for the differences between the two.

I think you'd do well with either though.

-Glenn

Those are beutiful trees and apples. Do you have pictures of the whole tree? Also what size are they (Dwarf, semi?) Thanks!

Oops- I found a receipt for my second apple before posting and am embarrassed to say I glanced at the receipt and saw Queen Cox but the apple I had photographed was a second apple further down on the receipt called Greensleeves, purchased June 2002 from Raintree, in one of their end-of-season sales. I can't access most of my early computer records of fruit trees because of computers that crashed. It was on M26 rootstock. It seems most of my apples were called semi-dwarf but attained sizes here in apple country that would have been called standards in S. California. I actually have a couple of standard trees and they are no bigger than the sd's. I think Queen Cox must be one of the trees that didn't make it. Sometimes I have not caught the vole root damage early enough and have lost a few. A full grown Gala with a heavy crop of apples fell over completely, and still managed to ripen the fruit lying on the ground but couldn't be saved. Liberty is older and quite a large tree now. I don't know what sizes apples attain in your area. The espalier thing sounds good, though perhaps demanding, I saw a few at the local fairgrounds that were very attractive. The photos I posted were already on my photobucket site but I would have to take photos of the whole trees tomorrow. Greensleeves is still a smaller tree, I'm not sure why, unless it is naturally a smaller tree. Usually apples really take off here. It looks like it could be kept to a nice small rounded shape.

For some reason WP has not been a very good bearer for me the last few years. Liberty and Freedom were loaded with apples one year when it had rained during the entire bloom period and my farmer neighbor was amazed because he got NO apples that year... I prefer the taste of Liberty. I also really like Spitzenberg. It has a very succulent aromatic taste. I don't think it is considered a disease resistant apple but has been pretty good for me. I like my Freedom and Sweet Sixteen also. Liberty is the best for applesauce of the ones I grow, though. Some apples stay firm when cooked and are good for pies, but Liberty is great for sauce.

Liberty, 14-15 years old, usually loaded but only at the top this year, 6' ladder for scale. Directly over the ladder are the great crop of apples on Spitzenberg.

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Greensleeves, only 7 apples this year after being totally loaded last year, a couple visible under the ladder paint can holder.

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Thanks to all of your help I decided to purchase a liberty apple tree. An apple orchard near me sells stark bros potted apple trees. They only had a few and the one I thought had the nicest form turned out to be the only one they had on M27 rootstock. All the others were on M9. They mentioned the M27 would grow taller than the M9 and said in the end there would be no real difference between the two (I thought I read M9 would be taller). I was wondering what everyone thought. I was hoping to have the tree get somewhere around 6-9 feet tall. I guess in the end it is not about the height of the tree but rather the fruit production. Is there a big difference in the yield of the two rootstocks?