How to Grow Medlar in Ohio

Plan to plant a newly acquired medlar sapling in April, preferably one of a grafted cultivar such as "Dutch" or "Large Russian" that will produce more substantial fruits than the species type. Select a planting location that receives at least six to eight hours of full sunlight per day and has fertile, well-drained and slightly acidic soil, with a pH between 6 and 6.9. Ensure the planting location is at least 15 feet from all other trees and shrubs but close enough to them to shield the medlar from strong wind.

Fill one-half of a 5-gallon bucket with water, and soak the roots of a bare-root medlar sapling overnight in the water the day before you plant the tree. Alternatively, water a container medlar thoroughly enough so moisture runs out the container's drainage holes.

Dig a hole large enough to encompass the sapling's roots when they are spread. Drive a tree stake 2 feet into the ground about 1 foot from where the medlar's trunk will be, placing the stake on the side from which most wind is likely to come. The part of the stake left protruding above soil should be one-third the tree's height.

Plant the sapling at a depth where its graft remains 4 to 5 inches above the soil surface or, if it is a seedling, at the same height it grew in its container. Tie a length of polypropylene webbing or pantyhose in a horizontal figure 8 to secure the tree's trunk snugly to the stake, with the center of the figure 8 between the trunk and the stake.

Fill the remainder of the planting hole with soil you removed to create the hole. Water the sapling's soil with the water from the 5-gallon bucket in which you soaked the tree if it is a bare-root sapling or with fresh water if the tree was in a container.

Lay a 2-inch layer of composted manure on the planting site, keeping the manure at least 4 inches from the tree's trunk.

Measure how much water the sapling receives per week by using a rain gauge or other measuring device. Ensure the sapling receives at least 1 inch of water per week, either through rainfall or irrigation, during spring and summer.

Cut back the medlar's longest vertical shoots by about one-third in early spring the year after the tree was planted. Make each cut just above an outward-facing leaf bud. Doing so ensures the tree branches outward rather than inward toward its center.

Scatter either about 2 ounces of an all-purpose, 20-20-20 chemical fertilizer or 8 ounces of a 5-5-5 organic fertilizer in a 1-square-yard area around the medlar tree after you prune it. Scratch the fertilizer into the soil, water the site and add a fresh layer of composted manure on top of the soil, keeping the manure at least 4 inches from the tree's trunk. Repeat this fertilizing procedure every year, extending the fertilizer's spread and amount as the tree grows.

Shorten the tree's longest vertical shoots by about one-third in the early spring of its third and fourth years, making the cuts above outward-facing leaf buds. After the fourth year, the tree shouldn't require additional pruning, and its stake can be removed. Never cut back all of the shoots because doing so can eliminate buds, which may appear on the branch tips by the tree's second or third year. Watch for those buds to open in late May or early June.

Wait until after the first hard frost to pick medlar fruits. In Ohio, the first hard frost usually occurs in October. Dip the harvested fruits in saltwater to help ward off fungi. Spread the fruits, with their stem ends pointing upward, in a cool, dark place to soften. Watch the fruits closely during the following two to three weeks, and use them after they turn dark brown and wrinkled. Their flesh should be mushy then, like that of baked apples, and taste similar to spicy apple butter.