Planting the Honeycrisp

After the day started overcast and with a determined drizzle, the sun finally broke through in the early afternoon. We took that opportunity to plant the "Honeycrisp" apple tree that I had purchased a week ago at the Master Gardner's sale at the Fairgrounds. We planted it in the meadow, right where the little "Chehalis" apple tree had been planted last Spring. It unfortunately died above the graft, a victim of a very hot first Summer and under watering on my part. This young tree appears to be maybe 3 years old. It has a strong leader and two well developed side branches. After much digging, and some serious rock removal, we got it put in place and well watered in. The final step was getting a fence put around it, to give it some protection from the deer.