Orchard Planning
As the saying goes, the best time to plant a tree was yesterday, and the second best was today. For an orchard, the best day to plan is today, and the best day to plant is when you are ready! Planning an orchard takes time and specific considerations to help your trees have a great start and a successful future. By creating a plan, you are putting your trees in the ground with a strong foundation. These resources are a guide to starting an orchard and putting your first trees in the ground.
Starting off locally, check out this UNH resource, Planning and Planting Your Home Fruit Orchard: From Apples and Peaches to Pawpaw. You can read or listen to this resource, which is mainly focused on small-scale backyard orchards. They focus on future maintenance when planning, such as tree health and pruning.
Next, check out this UVM resource from the UVM Apple Program. This resource has research focused on commercial growers from the UVM Apple Program. There are websites of interest and written-out resources such as rootstock specifications. This is a great first resource for those interested in creating a commercial orchard and having a base to think through the steps.
Beginning Grower: Planning and Planting an Orchardis a quick article by Penn State focused on the planting and layout of the orchard. A key focus in this article is soil health, including tips to build the soil before you even start to plant.
A Grower’s Guide to Organic Apples is a resource created by Cornell for organic growers. Though this resource covers almost everything you need to know about organic orcharding and mostly focuses on NY farmers, chapter 3 is full of valuable information for anyone planning an organic orchard.
Looking for in-person events and advice? Check out MOFGA’s Orcharding page, filled with great information for beginners, including videos, tips, and tricks. Best of all are their yearly featured events to learn these skills in person.
Are you interested in permaculture design? This video resource shows how you can work with your natural environment to design an orchard. Ultimate Guide to Designing Your Permaculture Orchard gives you the inspiration for you to look for the elements that will help your orchard thrive.
Orchards are a labour of love and patience. Knowing the ins and outs of your orchard before it is even in the ground helps build a solid foundation that you will reap the bounty of for years to come. We hope these resources will help grow your orchard knowledge. If you are interested, check out other tree-based blogs such as our agroforestry and windbreak resource.
To Learn More:
6 Core Questions for Orchard Planning by Fruition Seeds
Tree Fruit Crops & Orchards by UNH
Off The Wall Orchard through New England VFC
This resource was funded in partnership with the Transition to Organic Partnership Program