planting trees

[hunt4]

i have about a 1/4 acer open area in the woods i would like to fillin with spruce,aple,and 1or2 pear trees and a good pine to put a treestand on. was thinking a i would put the spruce in a circle and micks the fruit trees in the middle with the pine at one end. I have never done this befor so any help will be apreshated.
 
 
                                                           

[ranwin33]

1/4 acre is not a lot of space for trees.  Remember, you will not want the crowns to shade each other out as they mature, for optimal growth.  If it were me I'd turn that space into a food plot; maybe add a few apple trees or crab apple trees for soft mast production, but that would be about it.  Given the growth rate of spruce and pine it will be many years before they reach the size you want.

If you do go with trees, consider tree tubes onyour hardwoods.  I don't know if they help trees grow, but they do keep the deer (and other animals) from eating them.

[danesdad]

A quarter acre isn't much.  I agree that the food plot is a good idea.  Maybe a couple apple trees or pears on the edges.

[bmt4413]

I agree.  What you are descibing just wouldn't work as well as you may hope on the size of area you have.  I think you need to do one of the other, either plant a stand of pines or an orchard, but not both.  The pines will take a little while to get big enough to be beneficial and if you were to plant whites, the deer tend to browse them hard, which will slow growth even more.  However, once established they provide great thermal cover for winter.  That small of an area would probably be better planted with a mix of apple, pear, persimmon, ect.  Just remember apples and pears can need more than one variety (macintosh, granny smith, golden and red delicious, ect.) to pollinate each other, or find self pollinating varieties.  Ask your local garden center or co-op which species work best together in your area.

[ranwin33]

You can also get some pretty good deals on some end of season fruit trees in October/November at some of your local big box home improvement stores.  Last year our local Home Depot had 7 foot apple and pear trees for $5 each that looked to still be in pretty good shape.