PLANNING YOUR ORCHARD, OR INCORPORATING FRUIT INTO YOUR LANDSCAPE

After you have chosen a site for your orchard it is a good idea to draw a planting plan. The following factors should be taken into consideration when drawing your plan.

1) What species of trees do you wish to plant?

2) How many of each species do I need?

3) What are the pollination requirements of each variety? Are there pollinators already available? If you are in the city, a tree planted in your neighbors yard can act as a pollinator. If you have this information you can situate compatible trees close together to ensure good pollination.

4) How big will the trees grow? Be sure to leave adequate space between trees to prevent competition for sunlight and nutrients. You also need to leave enough room to cultivate or mow around the trees.

REMEMBER: Trees look small when planted but will soon become overcrowded if planted to close together. Standard apple trees require at least 12 feet between trees.

5) Don't forget to include the small fruits, ie currants saskatoons, raspberries etc. when planning your orchard. Fruiting shrubs vary in size and you should find out the mature size of each variety when planning the use of fruit in your landscape.

6) If you don't have an area that is suitable for an orchard, fruit trees can be worked into the overall landscape of your yard. Just remember the same pollination and space requirements. If you have limited space but wish to grow several varieties, planting a good hardy variety and grafting and budding other varieties to it, is the answer.

Amanda Chedzoy

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