Late Seasons & Last Chances: An Arborist’s Reflections on October Planting

The month of October, to me, has a bittersweet feel. A handful of days, aptly coined Indian summer, will hopefully bless us with mornings born cool that, by afternoon, become what feels like the last warm caress of a season gone by.

October is also a month of last chances. Early October is our last and best chance to plant trees in soil that still retains residual summer warmth. September will always be my first choice for planting young trees and shrubs, but October often offers us something rarely seen in September: plant sales!

I’m not an enthusiastic proponent of big-box stores, but this is the month when trees and shrubs at Walmart, Home Depot, and Tractor Supply that didn’t sell early in the season are often sold at half price, or even less. So, if you have an open, sunny spot near your yard, you might think it’s the perfect new home for a couple of fruit trees. Many people are trending toward edible landscapes. I’d be cautious, or completely avoid, most fruit trees sold in big-box stores.

We’ve all grown up around apple trees to the point that many of us assume they are native to Connecticut. They are not.

As a teenager, I cut my arboricultural teeth, as it were, during my participation in a work-study program offered by EO Smith. I had the distinct privilege of being mentored by the late Tim Shashok. The fruit trees of Spring Hill Orchard are long gone. The big yellow apple barn on Storrs Road is about the only physical feature left of where I began this journey so many years ago.

I’ve been involved in the green industry in one capacity or another for well over 40 years. I have probably been in more yards in Mansfield and the surrounding towns than most. And though I’ve seen many fruit trees in these yards, I’ve never seen any that compared with the trees that were sprayed, pruned, and fertilized like those at the UConn orchard.

Trees with masses of apples that were perfect red globes, dragging limbs down with their fully ripened weight. Peaches—red, orange, fuzzy, and blemish-free—bursting with a sweet juiciness unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a grocery store. And yellow, sun-kissed pears that were so succulent I had to wipe my mouth with every bite.

I mention these examples to illustrate a point: the average homeowner, in my experience, typically will not follow the strict regimen required to create orchard-quality fruit. Keep in mind that there are exceptions to most rules.

I recently saw a post from my friend and longtime customer, Roger Adams of Mansfield Center. He had a beautiful harvest of juicy peaches. When I asked him if he sprayed, he said he only used some deer repellent in the spring to keep the deer from eating the flowers, and then found himself a new part-time job keeping the squirrels off the young peaches. Again, the exception to the rule.

There may be low-maintenance trees out there, but there are no zero-maintenance trees.

My advice: research before you purchase any trees for our Zone 6b environment. In a future article, I’ll list native trees and shrubs that I planted and continue to plant on my property. It should appear in this publication sometime this winter, giving you ample time to plan for spring planting.

Until then, enjoy the final flourish of colors that our trees gift us in October. Take a ride through the Litchfield Hills, or just pull over on the section of Route 32 that runs along the eastern border of the old Spring Manor Farm. There’s a spot where the long stone wall bumps out and creates a safe haven to park next to where the old lone elm tree once stood. The pasture drops away to the conifer forest, and across the river valley, a predominantly deciduous forest rises up to the back side of the Coventry Hills. If the conditions are favorable and we have good color, your pause in your day will be rewarded with a panoramic view that is as good as any that Connecticut has to offer. Let your eyes take it in and hold on to it as long as you can, because we all know what’s coming next.