Owner's comments
My general approach to growing anything is "if it can't survive on its own here, then it dies". When I've tried to use pesticides, etc in the past, I've usually solved the problem by killing the plant. So, other than providing some water when the plant wilts, I get the best results by doing nothing. As an example, I tested this location as viable for anything by planting a Bartlett pear that I purchased from Lowes. It yielded a dozen pears last summer, despite literally 40 days of no rain and 14 days of highs over 95 degrees. I used a hose to apply some water to the based of the trees when they wilted (about an hour of water at 3PM on 5 days). The location is a 30 degree slope facing southwest with no shade. There is about a foot of good top soil that was trucked in and spread over fractured rock (the lot was created by blasting a hillside). The Jonathan I planted next to it tried to set two apples, but lost them. I'm hoping it will do better in 2012.
2012 Update - the early bloom followed by a freeze prevented both the Jonathan and the pear tree from blooming - no fruit from this tree in 2012.
