updated 06/13/2021

Site description and contact

Columbia Falls - MSU Extension Fruit Research Site

This orchard is located in Columbia Falls in Flathead County at an elevation of 3,057 ft. To see locations of all MSU Extension Fruit Research Sites and Montana Heritage Orchards, visit this interactive web map. 

To coordinate a site visit, contact Pat McGlynn, MSU-Extension, (406) 758-5553, or Shari Johnson (Site Manager), Columbia Falls Junior High, (406) 892-6530.

Climate

These data originated from the nearest weather station in Kalispell, MT and were downloaded from NOAA's website. Note that elevation and environmental conditions may vary somewhat from the orchard site.

Weather Station
Elevation (ft)		 Average Total
Annual Precip (in)		 Annual Average
High (F)		 Average Annual
Low (F)		 Extreme High
Temp (F)		 Extreme Low
Temp (F)
2,957 17 85 14 96 -10

 

See also: detailed climate data for all sites (opens in Figshare)

Management Practices

Irrigation

Fertility management

Weed management

Pruning

Deer issues?

Fireblight presence

Insect notes

automatic sprinkler irrigation from well; watered every morning

compost from school

hand pull weeds; sod is cleared around tree at least 1 ft radius from trunk

yes

yes, until fenced in 2018

no

severe codling moth, abundance of aphids on ‘Pipestone’ plums

Cultivars Planted

Apple: 'Arkansas Black', 'Frostbite', 'Goodland', 'Honeycrisp', 'Northern Lights', 'Sweet 16', 'Zestar!'

Pear: 'Golden Spice', 'Luscious', 'Parker', 'Patten', 'Ure'

Plum: 'Mount Royal', 'Pipestone', 'Toka'

See also: full list and descriptions of the fruit tree cultivars used in this research

Orchard notes and map

Trees were initially planted in April of 2013. No rootstock information is available. Site visit notes, 3/20/2019:

  • Well-maintained site; Shari (site manager/school counselor) has support from the school and access to junior high students willing to learn and work.
  • The main issue is the abundance of insects, codling moths, spider mites, and aphids. Trees are producing fruit, but most of the fruit is inedible due to insect fruit damage. Note: in 2020, we are working to implement an insect management program.
  • No pesticides are used because the students are often in the garden helping.
  • Site favorites are the ‘Arkansas Black’ apple (which is very sweet), ‘Goodland’ apples, ‘Zestar!’ apples; all plums and pears are doing well.
  • All the ‘Pipestone’ plums have an abundance of aphids.

See the printable orchard maps and data for all sites (opens in Figshare).

Photo gallery

Click image to expand and view description.

Goodland apple tree in winter with metal guard around trunkSnow on ground in orchardSnow on ground in orchard with mountains in background

Click on an image to view as a slideshow.

Tree survival data, fall 2019

  Cultivar &
total surviving trees/total planted trees		 Total
planted		 Total
alive		 %
survival
Apple Arkansas Black Frostbite Goodland Honeycrisp Northern Lights Sweet 16 Zestar!      
  1/1 1/3 4/4 6/6 3/3 4/6 3/3 26 22 85%
Pear Golden Spice Luscious Parker Patten Ure          
  3/3 2/3 3/3 3/3 3/3     15 14 93%
Plum Mount Royal Pipestone Toka              
  1/3 0/3 2/3         9 3 33%

 

See also: survival data for all sites in spreadsheet format (opens in Figshare)