Tree planting sweetspot... and recommendations requested

[ruffdog]

^^^^good points about erosion...very important. There are lots of orchards around Gays Mills WI and they are far from flat ground and none are "terraced".

Apple Festival - Village of Gays Mills

 

[Streetcar]

If you can easily drive it, do not terrace it. Neighbor had orchard on slope and the trees were fine

 

[Dadnatron]

If you can easily drive it, do not terrace it. Neighbor had orchard on slope and the trees were fine

Well, That might be the thing then. I know it isn't too steep, but there was evidence it had previously been terraced to some degree. Not well, and not alot, but there are/were a few 'benches' historically. This is what got me to thinking it needed to be terraced. I smoothed everything out with a disc the other day, after allowing it to sit plowed all winter. Tractor can go in all directions without issue.

If I don't terrace it... or if I do for that matter... what type of grass would you recommend replanting into it?

 

[GLyford]

Traditional groundcover under the trees is grass, whatever will grow. And it is always an issue, because mowing under the fruit trees is always a pain (especially young fruit trees which are easily damaged by any sort of rotary or sickle bar mower).

If you are serious about fruit production, vs. just having fruit trees, look into the "espalier" (trellis) systems that many growers are now switching to. The systems were largely developed to simplify manual picking, either with walking or riding crews, but I just saw an article showing the system, by putting all the fruit on a 2d plane will eventually allow robotic (camera recognition based) pickers to work, something unthinkable with the traditional "bowl" pruned trees. (Though it is still very early days for the technology)

 

[MossRoad]

Well, That might be the thing then. I know it isn't too steep, but there was evidence it had previously been terraced to some degree. Not well, and not alot, but there are/were a few 'benches' historically. This is what got me to thinking it needed to be terraced. I smoothed everything out with a disc the other day, after allowing it to sit plowed all winter. Tractor can go in all directions without issue.

If I don't terrace it... or if I do for that matter... what type of grass would you recommend replanting into it?

I'd contact your county extension agent and ask for their free help... that's what you pay taxes for. They should. be able to tell you best practices for orchard management, including which types of grass to plant, and, more importantly, which types NOT to plant. Or, spraying under the trees to kill all grass without harming the trees is another option.

 

[Deerherd]

If I don't terrace it... or if I do for that matter... what type of grass would you recommend replanting into it?

Here’s a link to a very good article about prepping for an orchard:Keeping Under Cover: The Ideal Look of an Orchard Floor - Fruit Growers News

If you can drive it I wouldn’t terrace it either.

 

[woodlandfarms]

We live in the orchard capital of the world it feels like. Not sure what you are putting in your orchard but know that it isn't an easy task. Each year an orchard must be pruned, usually in the winter which could really suck. We have 30 plus trees in our small orchard, too little to make money off of and way way way way too much to ever eat. Each winter, I put the wife in a basket on the pickle forks and up she goes. It takes us a good week or so to do the orchard, we are not pro's and there is always way too much thinking, but a big tree takes 3 hours at least.

 

[Streetcar]

Neighbors orchard had fescue, the typical grass for our area

 

[goeduck]

We live in the orchard capital of the world it feels like. Not sure what you are putting in your orchard but know that it isn't an easy task. Each year an orchard must be pruned, usually in the winter which could really suck. We have 30 plus trees in our small orchard, too little to make money off of and way way way way too much to ever eat. Each winter, I put the wife in a basket on the pickle forks and up she goes. It takes us a good week or so to do the orchard, we are not pro's and there is always way too much thinking, but a big tree takes 3 hours at least.

If we don稚 get the apples picked on one of my properties the local black bear will make his rounds, climb the trees and break off branches to get the apples. Really hard on the trees. Too bad because I planted the trees for deer

 

[redman135]

Don't forget to plant the trees at the adult spacing. Planting closer will reduce production.