Ron:

That is a very unhappy, scraggly looking tree. Are you sure you want to try to grow almond trees where you live? Even if the trees survive, I doubt you will ever see an almond. Sometimes it's better to switch than fight.

Are your trees from Willis Orchards? If so, try another source for future trees, and grow things that are appropriate for your climate.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

logrock you don't give a very good picture of your trees.

What size were your trees when you planted them?

What size are they now?

Is the grass cleared away from the base of the trees at least 24" in diameter?

This is the second season so did you mulch them with organic material this last spring?

Almonds love heat and full sun. Do you have a better place to plant them?

If you really want a nut tree you may want to considered Walnuts or Hickory nuts as they are more suited to your climate.

Don,
what leads you to say that almonds are not appropriate for Ron's climate?
mikkle

Mikkle:

I went to his profile, and discovered he lives in NW Georgia. That part of GA is pretty high, and not at all a deep south climate. It would be great if location were in everyone's messages, but it seldom is.

I am still betting that those almond trees came in containerized from Willis Orchards. They will sell you trees, but not very good advice. The almond trees may survive in NW Georgia, but they will almost certainly never produce almonds. Even a healthy tree (which the one in the photo is not) would have trouble wintering over fruiting buds, and if there were a few blossoms they would be caught by a late frost.

Anybody in that area or in a similar climate who has actually produced almonds (not Hall's Hardy), let me know and I will hang my head in shame.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

I did not mention this earlier but that tree is in serious need of some pruning/training.

Practically everywhere you look there are 2-4 branches proceeding from the same node when there should be 6" between them. Let alone the crossing branches and branches growing toward the inside of the tree. Not to mention the two competing central leaders connected at the same point.

The tree is a mess. If the tree were properly pruned/trained the remaining branches would grow more vigorously producing a better shaped and nicer looking tree.

As far as fruit/nut production in cooler climates Don has more experience than I do but I still would not count it out. I bet there are lots of things that can be done to help make these trees happier that have not been done yet. However if it gets cold there in late September year after year I fear Don may be right.
Not because of the reasons he mentioned. No fruit or nut tree hit by a late frost will produce when the blossoms are destroyed. What kind of thinking is that? If you take that line of thought you might as well give up on growing any fruit of any kind there or almost anywhere as we had a late frost here that killed the blossoms on my plum trees and I got no fruit in zone 9. I don't know how cold it has to get to kill off fruiting buds but most likely below freezing and even then many survive.

To me if you are doing everything right my biggest concerns are the amount of sun they receive and how soon winter comes to your zone7 as almonds tend to ripen in late September through early October.

Thisisme:

Of course any blossoming fruit or nut tree can be damaged by a late frost. But the issue is bloom timing, and almonds are early bloomers. Once the blooms are fully open, they are much more vulnerable to cold than if they are still in bud or even partially open. That is why crops like almonds are grown commercially in places like California, where freezing temperatures after March are rare. In fact, CA almonds are in full bloom in February.

The earliest trees to bloom in my orchard are apricots, which begin to bloom in my climate in about the 2nd week of March, and whether or not I have an apricot crop is determined by whether I get a hard freeze after mid-April. Plum blooms are about 10 days later, followed by peaches, then apples. Each year is a little different, but I can usually count on about 2 cold nights in late April, so the question becomes: how cold? I figure to get a full apricot crop about 1 of every 3 years if I'm lucky, with smaller crops in the other years and sometimes nothing.

Most of the almond varieties sold by mailorder nurseries advertise their trees as "late bloomers", but it's not late enough for a semi-mountain climate like NW Georgia. So that's my kind of thinking.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

jellyman I understand what you are saying. You are one of the guys I really respect here along with guys like harvestman and applenut and a few others and a complete other group of people in the fig forum.

I was just trying to put things in perspective as I'm sure logrock knows his micro-climate better than we do. To me if it gets cold where he lives before any almonds could ripen each year thats the real deal breaker because that would be a sure thing that he would almost never get a crop. I understand where you are coming from with late frosts and blossoms but late frosts are not as sure to happen in the south as they may be in the north.

So NW Georgia might not be the best climate for getting nuts, but what would cause the mature leaves to have all dropped early? Lack of moisture at some point in the summer? Too much water? Almond (peach) leaf curl? Some other disease?

I just cracked open Halls Hardy almonds grown from a tree in my backyard. In September the husks split from the pit while still hanging on the tree. In the house the kernals dry inside the pits. They have a sweet almond flavor with a nutmeg finish. Smaller but better than California almonds, imo. OFM have attacked these but the husk is too tough, there is just some ooze. I'd recommend this tree to someone desiring z7 almonds. I've budded a peach onto the trunk, I'd rather have peaches than a bit of a kernal for all that work.

Wow, thanks for all the feedback! It will take me a while to digest all this information and answer your questions.

All that multi-branching happened this spring and I didn't want to prune it while it was vigorously growing.

I got them from Trees of Antiquity (CA)
http://www.treesofantiquity.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=41_19_30

I really appreciate your interest,
Ron

Here is some general climate data for our spot:
It freezes every winter, but very rarely gets below zero F.
Every summer, it gets into the 90s and occasionally above 100
Average Annual Precipitation: 54 in (slightly heavier in the winter)
USDA Zone: 7b
Altitude: 1100 ft
Chilling hours: 1500
Last Frost Date: Mid April
First Frost Date: Late October
Number of frost free growing days: 180-220

Here are a couple of more pictures:
{{gwi:125355}} {{gwi:125356}}

The tree on the left is the same one I took the leaves closeup earlier. It is about 5 ft tall and needs the grass pulled away. The one on the right is about 8 ft tall and had to be staked because it leaned over after a few days of heavy rain earlier this year. They both got some homemade compost, enriched with E.B. Stone organic fertilizer and covered with mulch this spring, but the mulch is already grown through with grass and weeds it seems. Maybe I'll use cardboard under my pine straw next time. They are also each on a wide low mound about 6 feet by 6 inches.

The late spring frost routinely kills some flowers from a variety of trees for everyone around here but that doesn't prevent them from trying. I know that I'm taking a chance with my apricot and the almonds, but the plums and peaches do OK (GA is called the peach state).

I will prune them this winter to encourage better spacing and "scaffolds". Also, maybe I will consider moving them, but they did so well this spring, I hate to set them back again.

My main concern is about the strange growth of leaves in bunches like that. Is that normal for almonds? Or is that a symptom of a known problem?

Thanks again for your opinions,
Ron

I have seen that pattern on trees where the main leaves got sick with a disease and defoliated. For example you could have had bacterial spot earlier. Also this time of year the leaves can start falling off even if the tree is completely healthy. I would not worry too much but keep an eye on the leaves next year to see if they start getting spotted or other signs of disease in summer / early fall.

Scott