Hi Sonia,

That's exciting!  The soil tests you sent are super helpful.  I have a few more questions to help answer your inquiry:

- Your water rights to water up to an acre -- is this a domestic well?  If so, I would also recommend having the water tested.  Chaffee County Extension office (185 Quigot Court has bottles for a e Coli test but also forms I can send you for a mineral test.  I recommend doing the mineral test once when you get to the property, and the e Coli test annually for drinking water.  

I'm attaching a fact sheet on apples and planting.  20 trees is doable by hand if you have a strong back and a couple afternoons. Generally, I dig a hole in the ground *just a hair* deeper than the pot and twice the diameter all the way around, I scar the edges with the shovel, put the tree in so that it is straight and the level of the soil at the root ball is even with the soil outside the hole, and backfill with a mix of the native topsoil and either compost or mix any bagged fertilizer in, based on the recommendations of the soil test you have received.  

If you're on a well, I recommend setting up a drip system, and watering on the schedule on the "Care of newly planted trees" that is attached.  

I recommend getting the drip system set up, ordering the trees, and planting in September so they aren't put into the hottest part of the summer. 

Give us a call at the Chaffee County office at<personal data hidden> with any more questions -- I know I'm sending you a ton of information so happy to talk more in detail!

Monica

Hi Monica,

Thanks a lot for the info!!! To answer your questions:

- We are on a well, and there's an old garage on the property. Right now we're working to bring power to the garage and the well pump so that we can do the irrigation. Until we power the well, we can't get the water for the test. We did have it tested for bacteria when we bought the property with a generator, and we definitely want to test for chemicals once it's running again.

- Drip irrigation definitely sounds like the way to go. 

- We actually bought a Kubota utility tractor with a backhoe, so we can dig holes quite a lot faster than by hand. 

- One of our big questions is about how to do the soil prep. We read a lot about having to plow and then grow cover crop and mix in manure and wait at least a year before planting the trees. Adding fertilizer/organic matter/minerals directly to the hole sounds a lot easier, but is it the right thing to do? What are your thoughts on that? 

- We would also like to find varieties of apples that have a history of growing well locally in BV, do you have any specific advice on that? Are there any other trees or perennial crops you recommend?

Thanks so much for your time, I might try to give you a call later today.

Hi Sonia,

Some varieties I have seen grown successfully in Chaffee County are Jonathan, Ben Davis, Colorado Orange, Roxbury Russet, Connell Red, and Sweet 16. I can also connect you with some groups of apple growers here locally who could give you more variety names. Are you primarily looking for dessert / eating apples, storage varieties, pie apples or cider apples? Pears, plums and apricots do well here also, and tart cherries are a possibility.

Generally, in terms of soil prep, it depends on your plan for the orchard alleys.  If you want to seed that to clover or a grass mix, it may be easiest to prep the whole area and add manure / amendments or grow out a cover crop before planting the trees so you don't have to maneuver the tractor between trees.  I would still amend the individual holes for the trees, because as a perennial that's the easiest way to get them a good start.  I'm attaching fact sheets on grass seeding for small acreage, native lawn establishment, and weed management on small acreage, and they have recommendations for native grasses that do well up here.  If you'd like to put in a cover crop, I recommend a mix of white clover (low growing, a legume so can replenish soil nitrogen, but also rather slow) with oats or an annual ryegrass that will help the clover get established and then die off in the winter.  I've had the best luck with sowing clover and oats in August, mulching with woodchips to keep soil moisture in, and watering daily with a sprinkler for 2-3 weeks, and then it helps to water that once a month in the winter if there isn't snow cover, though I know winter watering can be challenging. Then you could plant the trees into that area in the spring.  It will be important to do a monthly winter watering of the trees through at least their first winter, and longer if we have dry winters. 

Give us a call in the office with more questions!<personal data hidden>. I am gone from 1-2pm today and in meetings all day tomorrow, but our office hours are generally 7:30am to 5:30pm.

Best,

Monica