@jason long - awesome, thanks, all great info. I think we're going to plant 20-30 trees...partly because we are newbies and some will die or do poorly and partly to maximize the potential for cross pollination.

Jason covered a big part of the things to be considering. I'll think about it and give you some more opinions later ... but for now, a couple things : For the Peaches, do you know if peach leaf curl disease is prevalent or even a potential issue in your area ? If you are not sure, time to do some research on that. If it is an issue, I would HIGHLY recommend curl resistant varieties, we can all give you some ideas there, but Indian Free Peach is a no brainer regardless of the disease concern ... just because its that good and if curl is an issue, its highly resistant. Also, have you visited the Dave Wilson Nursery site ? Are you aware of the "Backyard Orchard Culture" thing that they push and encourage ?

@Joe Blow - "Backyard Orchard Culture". I have read that but that is completely different than what I'm seeking. I want full trees for their natural beauty as well as to keep some of my harvest out the mouths of the deer we have everywhere. I have lots of land and no need to work within a tiny area or maximize output. I get that that's important for some folks, but it's not what I want at all.

I hear ya', I was more going to get into the concept of keeping trees short, 8 ft. or so, for ease of pruning, thinning, spraying, picking , etc... Sounds like you don't plan on a deer fence, so guessing you are looking for trees to be tall enough to get out of their reach ? You thinking standard rootstock / full sized trees ?

@Joe Blow Apparently if you put up T-Posts with 30 lb test fishing line strung between them it works great with deer. They can't see the line so they try to walk between the posts, but they definitely feel it and it spooks them. That + a bunch of scent deterrents (I got a sprayer filled with coyote pee for example) is supposed to do a good job keeping them away from the young trees. Once they are bigger, I don't mind if the deer eat some of the fruit but yes if it's not all within their reach that would be ideal I think. I dunno, I'm still researching :)

T-post with fish line does work if done properly, but you need to run multiple lines high , med, med low, and low ... 4 rows in my opinion. It's a pain to rig ... trying to keep good tension initially and ongoing is a challenge, and if you got kids or dogs, snowmobiles or ATV's, or you been drinkin' , you will tear that stuff up quick. Been there. We moved to a 7 ft. heavy black plastic deer fence, 100ft. roll was 50 bucks ... easy to rig with T-Posts every 8 ft. or so and zip ties. Durable and looks good ... and all creatures know its there. In my experience, scent deterrents are pointless ... and here is why. If you don't have the right fence, they are coming in no matter what ... that scent may spook them initially, but they will eventually ignore it and get to your trees. If you have the right fence, there is no need for scents.

I'm not sure if you were thinking more of it like "plant and forget", and let mother nature take over ... or are trying to maintain them. If you want to take care of them, which is a TON of work on 20-30 trees, consider that trees tall enough to be out of deer reach means out of your reach too ... that means time to start researching ladders, lol !!! Have fun up there !

I am lucky enough to not have to worry about deer, but rabbits are the bane of my existence. I would parrot what Joe has said about scent deterrents, they just don't work unless you put in a huge time and $$ investment. After every rain, you need to reapply, most products are only good for about two weeks, and you need to reapply. For best efficiency, you should be switch up products between applications, peppermint, urine, rotting eggs so they don't get used to one scent and ignore it. By the time you invest in all this and get two months in, you have spent about the same amount as a physical barrier.