You will greatly increase your chances for apple success by adhering to the following when planting:

1) Avoid planting apple trees in ground prone to standing water. Apple tree roots need oxygen to survive, and standing water eliminates oxygen from the soil.

2) Dig a hole larger than the tree's root system. Saplings establish best when their roots don't have to struggle through compacted soil to reach their initial supply of water and nutrients.  Our orchard trees were planted into a 3'x3' square hole dug with a backhoe. 

3) Plant your tree so that the graft union (see below) is 2-4" above the ground. If the graft union is buried, then the scion variety will root, which may lead to delayed fruiting and/or change in vigor. 

4) Water your tree immediately after planting and then weekly throughout the year. Orchard guru Michael Phillips recommended a 5-gallon bucket of water per tree at planting time, and then 5-gallons per week per tree until fall rains began. 

5) Limit grass and weed competition around your tree. We try to keep a 3'x3' weed-free square around our trees the first year. We let orchard vegetation fill in during the 2nd year, though we still remove any plants within 6" of the main trunk in order to promote air circulation. 

6) Protect your tree from hungry animals! Deer love to "prune" apple trees. Voles and rabbits will girdle and kill young trees. We highly recommend protecting your apple tree with a tree guard at least 18" tall, or significantly taller in areas with winter snowpack. We cut up rolls of 1/2" hardware cloth into rectangles and then secure them around our trees with rabbit cage j-clips.