Orchard Fruit

An orchard is a grouping of food bearing trees. It may be comprised of one type of tree or multiple. Typical fruit orchard trees are: plums, pears, apples, apricots cherries and peaches. These fruits are all available through this site. They come from top orchards. We would like to give you an idea of the nature optimal orchards and even planting your own, in order to create perspective on the types of dried fruits and their quality that are available through this site.
When establishing a fruit orchard the soil is a central consideration. The optimal soils for fruit trees are deep, well drained loams with a pH of 6.5-6.8. One should avoid shallow soils with a depth to bedrock of less than 36 inches. It leaves trees unstable and vulnerable in the long run. Light sands with a high percolation rate are also not optimal. On the other hand soil that drain very slowly like clay or boggy terrain do not work well.

Orchards do well when they are located on higher ground or on slopes where cold air that is dropping will rush past them that than collect. The top or middle of a hill in any direction is always better than at the bottom of a hill where frost can collect. Orchards suffer that are located in “frost pockets. Having some kind of wind break is helpful, such as a forest stand or even buildings. Another consideration in locating an orchard is to put it by a large body of water.

Take a look at existing terrain generally. If native floral does well, that is a good sign. If the location has sparse vegetation that is an indicator that the location may not be a good one.

If you do not have an ideal location, you can work with it. For instance if a year or two in advance you clear the native vegetation, smooth the terrain and plant a grass/legume cover crop that helps stabilize the soil. If you can cut the vegetation a few times a season for a few season or otherwise put compost on the soil for a few years that is a good preparation of the soil.

A prime consideration in spacing fruit trees is that they need a lot of sun to optimize the growth of fruit. So it doesn’t pay to place too many trees in a given area. A single row of trees with fields on both sides can be planted closer together that if there are multiple rows of trees in an orchard. In a single row the branches can extend out to the side to get a lot of sunlight. Where in a multi-row situation that is not the case. In that environment the spacing of trees should be a minimum of 20 feet apart and a maximum of 40 feet. Trees do not grow as large in colder climates. And so for instance in zone 3 you might place apple trees 25 feet apart, but in zone 6 more like 35 feet. Also trees do not grow as large in higher altitude. It is best to get local horticultural advice on the combination of conditions.

There are variations on the patterning of rows. The simplest and in some ways most convenient pattern is the square with squared out rows. This creates real convenience for machinery which travels up and down the rows – mowers for instance. On the other hand a staggering of rows in a quincunx pattern leaves less “dead space” in terms of the number of trees that can be placed.

One should not over-mow. Long grasses provide good habitat for helpful insects. Through Spring and early summer mow only directly around each tree, and in most locations you do not need to mow between rows until mid summer. Even then you may want to leave some long grass in the center of a row for the beneficial insects.