Starting New Apple Orchard -- Preparation?

[Skerby]

Hi connective wisdom! I'm starting an apple orchard next spring, ordered 100 trees for starters...
I have about 1.25 acres in a loop in my driveway I want to prep.. suggestions on time table? I have a sprayer (fimco) for my lawnmower, and a broadcast spreader, a rototiller i just bought (6'), a cultimulcher, boxblade, a spike harrow.

Is what i'm thinking appropriate?
[] spray roundup on the 1.25 acres in the early fall
[] rototill
[] cultipack (leave cultivaters up on the mulcher)
[] broadcast SOMETHING???? (what do i want in my orchard lanes?)
[] plant trees next apirl and build trellis system as they're on BUD9

Thanks so much in advance for everything!

 

[Skerby]

If I plant kentucky 31 this fall, can i run my tractor on it next april to plant my trees or will the grass be too week to support the workout? thx...

 

[WayneB]

Hi connective wisdom! I'm starting an apple orchard next spring, ordered 100 trees for starters...
I have about 1.25 acres in a loop in my driveway I want to prep.. suggestions on time table? I have a sprayer (fimco) for my lawnmower, and a broadcast spreader, a rototiller i just bought (6'), a cultimulcher, boxblade, a spike harrow.

Is what i'm thinking appropriate?

[] spray roundup on the 1.25 acres in the early fall

Not sure why you are thinking of broad spraying roundup on the 1.25 acres? Not sure if I would do that?

[] rototill I am only assuming that you have the tiller and play on tilling the entire area then planting grass seed? After that you will be laying out the orchard to plant the trees.

[] cultipack (leave cultivaters up on the mulcher)

[] broadcast SOMETHING???? (what do i want in my orchard lanes?) In my area I have grass growing and the tree layout is such that I can drive around and mow most of the area easily. There are areas that I have to go back and doing so weed cutting, but very little


[] plant trees next apirl and build trellis system as they're on BUD9 Not sure about the trellis system. Around here I planted the trees and then supported as needed the first year. Now they are established and on their own. I noticed you are planning on 100 trees, that is a bunch to plant at one time and maybe way too many for the 11/4 acre? Guess it depends upon the type (size) of the trees.

Thanks so much in advance for everything!

Keep us updated on the progress!

 

[ToadHill]

If I had it to do over when I planted my orchard I'd have done a couple things differently.
1. Find grass that will grow no more than 5" high, I know it's out there but I can't remember what it's called.
2. Plan for some kind of irrigation to be sure that the crop gets water in dry times.
3. Not let my 14 year old son mow the grass ( and several trees).
4. Don't spray roundup around the base of the trees, use mulch. If all the vegitation is dead, the prevaling wind has a tendency to cause the roots to lift and bend in the direction of the wind. (we have some heavy wind around here.)

 

[Charlesaf3]

Where are you buying the trees out of curiousity? Are they pretty much something that has to be bought local?

 

[Skerby]

thansk much so far!
I'm buying the trees from a nursery in Michigan.. plenty of fruit nurseries around.. i'm driving up to get them to save shipping.. just burning my diesel.

I have dwarf stock ordered, so i want to plant high density, perhaps 5-6' apart and 15' between rows.. I'm thinking to use kentucky 31 tall fescue.. yea, it will need cutting.. and you're right, that's why i'm going to till up the site.. it's weedy and ugly grasses, wild strawberries etc.. but still just grasses as i mow it currently.., they'll grow up to 10 foot about..

for deer control i don't think i want to blow thousands on a fence to watch them jump in, so i'm thinking about a burro or a dog... (a cheaper fence would hold them in ...

just starting w/ a 100 since that will run me about $1000 or so just in trees...

if deer or disease take them out, i'll feel better than having ordered more

 

[Skerby]

Here's the best link to date i found so far regarding apple's..
Web site - TFPG Home
after printing page after page i just ordered it in hardcover, only $25 w/ shipping! can't beat the gov't funded research programs for pretty unbiased insite into many agricultural things!
like all things in life however, the more you read, the more educated you become and the more questions you have... like, i' don't see too much on irrigation in all the weblinks i found, all they add is how important water is.. yea, thanks for that tidbit!

 

[Skerby]

well, i got the book, its not hardcover as stated, but its on decent paper stock, b&w only.. and thick gauge plastic spiral bound..

i just took a soil sample from the planting area that will go to the lab tomorrow w/ results in 3 days... then i'll get the recommend application of fertalizer and lime if needed.. i'll probably roundup the whole area, then burn it down, then broadcast the recommended soil improvements and till it in.
then cultipack, then spread seed, then cultipack, then pray for rain this late august, early/mid september, depending on the weather forcast

 

[SPIKER]

make sure the stock you are getting is not a grafted stock unless you like to have stuff that won't last, is my only suggestion other than what others posted above. also if you are planning on something that requires mowing then you need to have small mower around trees so soil compaction is not an issue later... look for an "ORCHARD GRASS" I know it is out there and is good for what you want.

mark M

 

[Skerby]

if they don't graft the dwarfing rootstock onto the cultivar how else do they do it?
orchard grass is a misnomer, it's for hay for animal feed right?

 

[SPIKER]

ORCHARD GRASS as I've heard it called is a low growing variety that is shade tolerant, it only grows to about 8" but will send up a narrow seed spike which is very "wispy," I didn't see where you said DWARF trees, so in that case I'm not up on those as far as grafted vs full traditional trees. I ave some of the grafted dwarf trees up close and have a 40% failure rate after 3 years... the non-grafted trees are 90% alive one dead one due to deer. one may still yet die due to excessive rubbing...
I have some 20 or so different trees, apple, peach, pare & cherry. then 100'S of plumb that this year are SO loaded (5th year on them and are less than 5' most of them anyway) will try & get pics of them next time I go out to farm...

I seem to have a few peach and pare fruits, no cherries yet & no apples yet and they have been in ground longest...>??

the plum are American plumb so smaller but oh so tasty! may be selling some if I can keep the bees away...


Mark M

 

[Skerby]

just got done with my seeding..
rototilled yesterday, cultipacked today, sowed 300lbs on 1.25 acre (hope that's enough... at $60/50lbs. then crosshatched with cultipacker to set seed.. supposed to rain next three days.. i thought only two days.. hope my money, i mean seed, doesnt wash away.. i guess that's what the cultipacker might help prevent with it's neat little rows.. cheers.. i'll post pics if i get a crop other than weeds over the next month!

 

[tony123]

Skerby, I'll be curiously following your progress!

I've got 400 feet of driveway that I'm planning fruit trees on. I was hoping to get in apple trees this fall. I'm not really doing an orchid, just residential hobby. I'll probably have a total of 30 trees by the time I'm done, and about 10 of those apple.

Anyway, I just finished tilling my area and planting Kentucky 31 myself. We've had rain clouds for days, but not a drop of rain! I'm going to resort to the sprinkler before the germination window leaves us.

Best of luck to your orchid project.

 

[forgeblast]

When i was putting in my small orchard 12 apple 6 pear 2 nectarine, 3 pawpaw, and two almond. i asked about orchard grass, was told it can grow up to 4 ft high. also i have 4 ft of cattle fencing topped with 3 foot of chicken wire. anything less the deer would eat it to shreds. i use rabbit guard fencing in the winter to keep them from eating the bark, and i shredded about 20 hawthorns last year and us that as much, keeps the voles from eating the bark too.
good luck.

 

[WarrenF]

My suggestion. Look in your garage and see if you have one of those four pound hand sledges. Pick it up and begin bashing your head with it now. It won't hurt as much as all the work you will have taking care of a 1.25 acre apple orchard.

Just had to say that....best of luck to you

 

[tony123]

Warren, please expand on your comment. I'm not interested in headaches. It's supposed to be fun.

 

[forgeblast]

its a lot of work, pruning in the winter, fertilzing, spraying, making sure your trees get a good start. its year long. Its not just ill plant and forget them, they are constant work.
get a good backpack sprayer, i use mine about once every two weeks for feeding and pest control in the summer, more if we have a lot of rain.

 

[tony123]

Wow! So what kind of expense is involved in "feeding" and "pest control"?Let's say for a dozen trees in a years time.

I enjoy being out and about on my property, so the time it takes would be more of a pro than a con. But if it was too costly to keep them up....

 

[WarrenF]

From the way many of you talk in here, when it comes to spraying herbicides....you must stop and think. You are going to spray PESTICIDES, FUNGICIDES, etc.. If you don't spray then you will have fruit...with lots of worms.

I don't want to discourage you at all. But I believe you said you were planting 100 trees. THAT IS A LOT OF FRUIT unless you are planning on most of it going to rot on the ground.

On top of that you might be getting into having to purchase expensive oil based sprays that will act as a pre-emergent type of pesticide or fungicide. My father took care of an orchard for a person, several years ago, and he had to dress in a rubber suit, wear a respirator and all sorts of things. I know that you said most of the trees were dwarf. I think that you will not have to buy an expensive orchard sprayer....however you will become well acquainted with a hand sprayer/backpack sprayer.

Remember you will have to keep your orchard grass mowed down. You will have to keep the flowers like dandelions, and clover from blooming. Bees like to pollinate those because they are low, rather than to fly up and around the tree to pollinate.....that according to a top orchardist from the University of Oregon.

I am all for everyone planting and following their dreams when it comes to your own piece of heaven. Just don't go into it, with the typical thinking of those who promote the rain forest. They talk of the rain forest as if it is some tropical piece of paradise. Actually it is a jungle, full of plants that will kill you, animals that will kill and eat you, and all sorts of diseases that will also kill you. Likewise your orchard to be, is going to be a lot of work. You cannot plant the trees and walk away.

I would say plant all the trees you can afford....make your own place a piece of your own heaven....but doggone it.....there is going to be a ton of work. I will say this however....when you sit back on your front porch and see all of those trees healthy and producing apples......there is nothing more satisfying in the world.

 

[forgeblast]

i use payola and soap shield from gardens alive. I also use a sea weed folar feed.
For fertilizer i use a 10-10-10 one scoop with three lime and one bone meal. Price of the 10-10-10 has doubled in the last year, but gardens alive sometimes gives a save 25 when you buy 25 worth of stuff.
Payola kills beetles, while the soap sheild kills fungus, you can spray them both at the same time. My normal routine is to feed with the sea weed on day and the next day spray with the payola/soap shield mix. I use the soap shield on my hops also.
my trees are still young so i have been making sure they dont flower, but i figure once they are full, we love apple butter, apple sauce, cider, etc.....i must eat two or three apples a day, and i dont mind canning.
later all