We will be planting 150 apple trees in the East orchard this spring using the Tall Spindle system. A limited quantity of apples should be available in Fall 2026.

Over 50 years ago, growers and horticultural researchers started the search for trees that were more manageable, bore fruit sooner, and yielded more per acre. The system now known as Tall Spindle is the result of this experimentation and is widely used in the apple industry worldwide.

The planting system achieves the goals of very high early yields, high sustained yields, and excellent fruit quality while moderating the initial investment.

The important components of this system, as Terrence Robinson from Cornell University lists them, are:

1. High planting densities
2. Dwarfing rootstocks
3. Highly feathered nursery trees
4. Minimal pruning at planting
5. Bending feathers and branches below horizontal
6. No permanent scaffold branches
7. Limb renewal pruning to remove and renew branches as they get too large

For more information, contact the North Carolina University Extension office at https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/high-density-apple-orchard-management.