Nature Hills Gardening Community

I would like to plant apple trees in my yard and think I have the perfect spot (sunny, south side).  I will be getting the Backyard Orchardist based on your recommendation in another post, but was hoping someone could help with a couple of questions I have now.  Can a crabapple tree serve as a pollinator for the Gala and/or Cameo?  Can the Gala and Cameo pollinate each other?  We have a huge deer population that feasts on all the gardens in our neighborhood ...any suggestions on how to keep them from eating the apples?  Someone told me that deer don't like walking on river rock (appx 1" - 1 1/2" rocks) because it feels unstable to them, and so using river rock as a mulch and extending it out in a wide circle around the base of the tree will make the area around the apple tree unstable to them and deter them from getting close enough to eat the fruit.  Is that an urban myth or is that plausible?  Thanks for whatever help you can give!

The answer to your first question about crabapples is YES!  I suggest 3 different trees.  These are the Indian Summer Crabapple, the Dolgo Crabapple, and the Chestnut Crabapple.  All three are excellent pollinators and are very disease resistant.  As far as your problem with the deer, there is no amount of river rock in the world that is going to stop them from getting to your tree.  If a deer want your apples, they will find a way even if they aren't absolutely fond of how they are retrieving it.  I grew up in a very rural area so I can speak from experience when I say that the only way to protect your apple trees is a good sturdy fence.  A good website for putting one of those in place is  http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/deer.htm  Good luck!

Thank you!