updated 06/13/2021

Site description and contact

Lodge Pole - MSU Extension Fruit Research Site

The Wasay Wakpa orchard is located in Lodge Pole in Blaine County at an elevation of 3,432 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 Hillary Maxwell, MSU-Extension, (406) 353-2656.

Climate

These data originated from the nearest weather station in Zortman, 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)
4,032 23 80 6 92 -13

 

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

Management Practices

Irrigation

Fertility management

Weed management

Pruning

Deer issues?

Fireblight presence

Pest notes

drip system on solar-powered pump; 4 gallons to each tree every evening

unknown

sod goes right up to the trunk of the trees

pruning is up-to-date, but trees are smaller than at other sites

unknown

no

no info

Cultivars Planted

Apple: 'Frostbite', 'Ginger Gold', 'Goodland', 'Honeycrisp', 'Mutsu', 'Spartan', 'Sweet 16', 'Zestar!'

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

Plum: 'Mount Royal', '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 May 2015. Rootstock information is available and is indicated after cultivar name on the map. Site visit notes, 5/8/2019:

  • Well-maintained site that is continuing to grow (new fence and more trees will be added this year).
  • Orchard produced some fruit in 2018.
  • Most trees look healthy. Two of the ‘Spartan’ apples, a ‘Ginger Gold’ apple, and a ‘Mutsu’ apple are dead.

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

Photo gallery

Click image to expand and view description.

Orchard in spring 2019Orchard in spring 2019Apple tree at Wasay Wakpa orchard, fall 2020

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 Frostbite Ginger Gold Goodland Honeycrisp Mutsu Spartan Sweet 16 Zestar!      
  4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 4/4 32 32 100%
Pear Golden Spice Parker Patten Ure              
  4/4 4/4 3/4 4/4         16 15 94%
Plum Mount Royal Toka                  
  1/3 3/3             6 4 67%

 

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