Introduction and Question from a Beginner

[111ERIK111]

Hello! I just wanted to introduce myself and ask a new person question, lol. So I live just south of Denver in a zone 5B. It’s suburbia and the houses are all really close, the people prior to us built a zero-scape yard but it’s so blah. So, long story short early last summer/late spring I planted 3 fruit trees (Rainer cherry, Bing cherry, and a Contender peach tree). All of these (according the orchard) are rated down to zone 4. The question I was pondering as we got a light snow and drastic temperature drop yesterday was, should I cover these trees when we get cold spikes? If so how and/or with what? Also, do I continue to water through the winter or will this risk freezing the roots? I’m sorry I’m sure this has been discussed but then I’d lose the opportunity to introduce myself to all you fine people!

Erik

[mamuang]

Hi Erik,
Welcome. A few questions for you:

1. When you said you planted your trees “last summer”,you meant summer of 2017? If so, how did you protected them this past winter?
2. Have you known or seen anyone in your area growing peach or cherry trees?
3. Did you plant bare root or potted trees?

All I could remember was a lady from Denver, Colorado with a handle name Milehighgirl who grew fruit trees for several years without success and finally gave up.

[SpokanePeach]

Welcome Erik,
Olpea reposted a great post on what is important for cold temperature protection for peaches. I have attempted to embed the link below (I hope it works). This has been most helpful for me.
(Training branch up trunk to become a scaffold branch)
Good luck,
Kevin

[SpokanePeach]

Apparently “hope” is not a great strategy - who knew?..
Trying again with the correct? Link…

Training branch up trunk to become a scaffold branch

Hmm, that’s hard to say, but I doubt it. Peaches have pretty shallow roots, but I’m not sure they die easy. Even where I’m at, the ground can freeze to a couple feet in a cold winter (although the ground wouldn’t get as cold as AK). The problem with testing this theory is that I suspect peaches frozen at ground level probably behave the same as peaches cut at ground level. I’ve cut down lots of peach trees at ground level (during the dormant season) and most of the time they don’t send up …

Kevin

[danchappell]

The trees enter a dormant period where the leaves fall and all growth stops until next spring. No need to cover or water during this time. The trees should be hardy to well below zero F during dormancy.
Next spring you should pay close attention to the flowering times of your two cherry trees. They will not produce fruit if they do not bloom in unison unless a neighbor’s tree happens to cross pollinate them. Grafting on additional cultivars with overlapping bloom times will solve that problem. The Contender should be OK since it is self fertile.

[Olpea]

Mamuang is correct. Milehighgirl had a tough time growing fruits in Denver. She tried very hard for several years. She had a really bad time with rodents girdling the trees over the winter, so you’ll need some protection around the trees (i.e. hardware cloth buried in the soil and extending up above the predicted snow line).

As mentioned, you don’t need to water during the winter, unless there is a prolonged winter dry spell and the soil is very dry. In that case the trees can suffer from desiccation, but again that’s probably minimal risk.

Your sweet cherries are going to be the hardest to get fruit from in your area. As I recall, a good portion of Milehighgirl’s weather related issues were the spring frosts. Sweet cherries bloom really early, so it may be rare you would get a crop from your sweet cherries. I grew sweet cherries here (KS/MO border) and it was a bust for me. My neighbor grew them even longer and had the same experience.

I think your Contender peach tree has some good potential. You may have a bit better weather than Denver if you are south and a half zone warmer.

Here is some data for the lowest winter temps for Denver by year.

https://www.currentresults.com/Yearly-Weather/USA/CO/Denver/extreme-annual-denver-low-temperature.php

It’s not too bad as far as lows go. Here anything below -9F starts to remove crop from peach trees. The good news is a tree like Contender is much hardier and can stand considerably lower temps before significantly removing crop.

Of course the table on the link above doesn’t record fluctuations in temps, which can have a pretty drastic effect.

I probably wouldn’t try to cover trees with tarps when cold spikes come. There probably isn’t enough ground temperature warmth to make a difference in protecting the wood.

[danchappell]

Sweet cherries bloom really early, so it may be rare you would get a crop from your sweet cherries

I would consider grafting half of each tree over to Montmorency if you are OK with pie cherries. They are a late bloomer and typically do well in Colorado. Odds are good that someone on this forum will supply you with scions if you want to try your hand at grafting this spring. This of course assumes that these cultivars are graft compatible which I am not certain of. Perhaps someone here with more experience with cherries knows the answer.

[danCO]

Hi Erik,
I’m up towards Denver and have both peach and cherry trees. The Montmorency and Contender have been steller. The Black Gold cherry has yet to produce. However, I haven’t experienced any die back yet from it. I don’t want to burst your bubble, but it may be hit or miss in terms of fruit given our weather here and the varieties you are growing. On the other hand, the trees should grow well.

There’s probably no need to cover the tress in the fall unless there is a dramatic temperature drop. Going from the 60’s to mid 20’s isn’t a big deal. However, going from the 60’s to single digits may warrant some protection if your trees are not dormant yet, or have just gone dormant. We had a killer freeze back in November '15 where the temperature essentially dropped from the 70’s to single digits in a matter of hours. This killed a lot trees and shrubs around Denver, and not just fruit trees. The issue was that many trees were not fully dormant due to the mild autumn, so the sudden change in temperature had a detrimental effect.

If you are lucky to get some blossoms in the spring, keep an eye on temperatures if you plan on getting fruit. Those trees you have are likely to bloom before the last hard freeze. You can cover them if this is a case and up the odds you will get fruit.

Lastly, I’d water the trees even if dormant in the late fall if it looks like the ground is getting dry. It’s common in the fall to go weeks with warm and dry weather. During these times, it’s like the atmosphere sucks the moisture out of everything. We do live in a semi-desert region after all. There have been a few years where I’ve watered the lawn in December!

BTW, if you have additional space for fruit, look into espalier. This could add some visual interest to your xieriscape as well as give you some fruit.

Dan

[111ERIK111]

Thanks so much for all the feed back guys! I read through it but hadn’t logged in for the winter, I do really appreciate everyone’s help! Now to tackle the spring time!