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i just bought an acre of land near Sylva, its 2220' feet high and zone 6-7 ish i guess.
what do you all recommend for growing veggies and fruit trees? any thoughts about the local soil on recently cleared forested mountainsides, and what about pests?
Apple and cherry trees are fine there. Also pears, persimmons, plums, nectarines, Asian pears, and figs.
Check the soil pH. Most fruit trees, including apple, peach, and pecan, prefer a soil pH of 6.0 to 6.5.
I don't see 2,000' being a significant challenge other than perhaps needing to select slightly different varieties than your neighbors down the hill. Probably all typical garden vegetables will thrive there just fine.
Elevation itself isn't a good indicator of whether something will or will not grow, a better measurement is Growing Degree Days (GDD) which tend to vary from plant to plant (using a different base temperature).
Remember that every 1000' the temperature drops about 3.5 degrees.
the land is south facing slope so should have plenty of sun. besides the fruits mentioned here, i'm very interested in blueberries. i think the frost hours are at least 1500/yr so should be able to plant norther varieties
as to soil ph i guess would need to add pine needles or peat moss
what about bugs, or rabbits, or deer? anyone know? i'm not local to NC.
"what about bugs, or rabbits, or deer? anyone know? i'm not local to NC." This is always an issue, you will have to take precautions to limit access to your crops. Deer and bugs are everywhere, even urban areas, a 7' fence will work to keep them out, rabbits can chew through it.
I've seen the damage that bears can do to fruit trees...they will climb, break branches in search of ripe apples, plums and pears....and black bears are present in WNC. An electric fence will provide some protection from in your orchard. Know that there are commercial apple orchards in the WNC mountains, they must have found some methods to protect their trees.
i just bought an acre of land near Sylva, its 2220' feet high and zone 6-7 ish i guess.
what do you all recommend for growing veggies and fruit trees? any thoughts about the local soil on recently cleared forested mountainsides, and what about pests?
thanks
We’re on the TN side of the mountains but in the same geographical region and at about the same elevation (2,000’) as you. A majority of our garden faces NW but is very open overhead so we get a lot of late morning and afternoon sun.
We planted a variety of tomatoes, beans, squash, carrots, zucchini, peppers, some corn and various herbs and spearmint with good results. Everything but the corn did well, which could have been due to a very wet stretch right after planting it.
Carrots were hit or miss, but we had a bunch that were ok and the rabbit enjoyed the rest. Tomatoes kept coming and were all very delicious.
We planted three young cherry trees a little bit late in the season (two Rainier, one Bing) and a few blueberry bushes so we will see if they take. Our butterfly bushes took off immediately as did the lemongrass (nearly dead when bought) but came right back after planting.
Blueberry bushes were looking pretty healthy but were past their season when planted so we shall see in the spring how they took. Also broadcast spread a bunch of wildflower seeds in some areas around the house which did really well.
We vermicompost and use a healthy amount of worm castings and tea as we plant and fertilize which has served us well. No issues with bugs whatsoever. Had to cage our cherry trees after trying other methods like tea tree oil and Irish Spring soap to fend off the dear, but there’s just too many deer in the area for anything other than cages to be effective.
Our game cameras have caught nearly a dozen at a time on our property so up went the cages, but our garden is in an area that the deer can’t access so we were good there. Hope that helps!
Last edited by VinceTheExplorer; 01-14-2021 at 08:12 AM..
We’re currently remodeling our house and will be adding a 1200 sq ft “garden deck” with raised beds and irrigation. Off the deck will be a room for vermicomposting and seeding with an area for mushroom inoculated logs.
Personally enjoy gardening in raised planters and beds more than the traditional way of in the ground. Better on the back and more control over weeds and such.
Last edited by VinceTheExplorer; 01-14-2021 at 08:05 AM..
At the OP's elevation, most any fruit tree/crop species will get enough 'growing time'.
Barber's Orchard, just down the Mtn from us, is at ~ 2,500+ feet, and much good corn varieties are grown around our town of Waynesville at 2,000 ft +.
As for insect pests: lots of species, and as the clime/summers are warmer than previous decade(s), so too are the insect pest varieties.
Four legged marauders: you may get lucky the first year, but soon the deer, rabbits, woodchucks, et al will find your crops, imo. Deer will require that 7' but 10' fence is better.
Woodchucks, rabbits are exc tunnelers. Bears can go in/over nearly any 'fence' and hopefully the wild pigs don't find your farmette: they will go through nearly anything to get to your stuff, if they choose.
You are in solid 7a/pushing 7b zone: cool weather greens in spring, post last freeze and again in Sept on to first hard freeze, in addition to the other crops.
GL, mD
Last edited by motordavid; 01-14-2021 at 03:02 PM..
wow, looks like my biggest issue is going to be 'Four legged marauders'! a 7 to 10' fence is not really an option , too expensive and i doubt the HOA will allow it. maybe have to build cages around the trees? i read birds are a big problem for berries too so maybe cages are the answer, above and underground
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