Just planted 2 apple trees and a peach tree. Please help

8 years ago

I just recently purchased a Honeycrisp Apple Tree and a Pixie Crunch Apple tree. And I also got an Elberta Peach Tree. They are all between 6-7 ft tall. I ordered them from a Nursery online. They're supposed to be fruit bearing age already. The peach tree already had 4 small peaches on it when it arrived! The trees look great. However, I am a little worried that I may have planted the apple trees at an incorrect depth. I'm worried that the graft union may be too low to the soil. I will post some pictures. If anyone has any advice, please help. I think the peach tree is planted good, but not so sure about the apple trees. They have been in the ground for about 3 weeks and they are already showing signs of new growth. So something is working. I'm just paranoid and I don't want to kill my trees. (They weren't cheap) I

did buy the 1 year guarantee, just in case. I'm new at all this and I would just like some advice from someone who knows what they're doing. Thank you in advance.

Sorry, pictures coming through sideways

Honeycrisp

Pixie Crunch

Peach tree

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Comments (4)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
8 years ago
Any tree, fruit-bearing or not, should be planted so that the root flare - that point at the base of the trunk where it starts to spread into the root system - is at soil level or slightly above. This applies to grafted trees as well. All of your appear to be planted too deeply.

And it is also best if you do not let the trees bear fruit their first season. They need to focus their energy on root development not fruit production!!
John Craft thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
John Craft
Original Author
8 years ago
Ok. Thank you. So should I actually dig the trees up and raise them, or would that cause too much stress? They have been in the ground for almost a month. There are small roots near the soil surface
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jason long (Z8a/7b)
8 years ago
I would recommend watering well, then do what you can to lift them. if you can, use your hands to push the soil away from the top roots. Then you should be able to get a shovel under it and lift it up.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
8 years ago
Since you have a decently sized clear area surrounding the trees, you can get by with just removing some of the soil surrounding the trunk to expose the root flare, rather than digging and lifting. Much better for the tree at this time of year as well.

Once the root flare is exposed, keep that area surrounding the tree mulched Avoid covering at least 3" all the way around the trunk but keep the remaining soil covered with a good mulch to keep weeds away and conserve moisture.