A 3- to 5-year Orchard Planting Plan
We designed this plan and started planting trees/fruits in 2001. Our progress on the plan was updated on 8/24/02, then again on 7/27/03.
This orchard plan will work for any planting zone of 5 on south. In preparation for gardening this spring, we have spent part of our winter planning our new orchard addition. We researched all different types of fruit trees, our weather zone, and what would grow here and (hopefully) thrive. We came up with a 3-year planting plan that would have our orchard producing some fruit within 2-3 years, fair quantities within 5 years, and at full capacity within 7 years. There are several reasons we chose to go with a 3-year planting plan:
1) Planting this many trees at once, at anywhere from $15 to $40 per tree, is cost-prohibitive. In 2002, we did find a wonderful source for fruit trees (non-GE), which are reasonably priced. This man runs a "plant farm" and raises trees, bushes, landscaping plants, garden plants, flowering trees and bushes, and houseplants that are beautiful.
2) We have planted the trees which take the longest to produce first.
3) This gives us plenty of time to choose where we wish to put all the trees and clear other trees, if necessary. We our minds on final location of our orchard 3 times, but I think the final and permanent location is in now. I hope so, because we are not moving all these trees now! :)
We did find that sticking within that 3-year-plan is not always feasible. The winter of 2002/2003 was a hard cold winter in this area. We lost some trees/plants to the weather. We lost some due to being run over. We then decided we would use the third year to replace whatever needed to be replaced and beef up a few other things, which we had intended to do the third year anyway.
First Year:
|
Type |
Kind | Size at full-growth | Years to full production | Fruit Matures in: |
| (3) Pecans planted 2001
As of 2002, 2 of these have survived |
Missouri Hardy Pecans | 50 feet | 4-5 years | Late summer on |
Second Year:
| Type | Kind | Size at full growth | Years to production | Fruit matures in: |
| (2) Cherries
(planted 3, 8/02, 1, 7/03) |
(1) Pie Cherry, (02), (1) Sweet Cherry (03) | semi-dwarf 12-15 feet | 2 years | late June |
| (2) Peaches
(planted 08/02) |
(2)Halestone freestone | semi-dwarf, 12-15 feet | 2nd year | mid July, late August |
| (2) Pears
(planted 1, 8/02 & 7/03) |
(2) Bartlett | semi-dwarf, 12-15 feet | 2-3 years | early September, late August
|
| (3) Apples
(planted 08/02) |
(3) Granny Smith (1 replaced 7/03) | full-size, 12-15 feet | 2-3 years | early November
|
| (2) Plums
(planted 8/02) |
(2) Au Producer | semi-dwarf 12-15 feet | 2-3 years | early June |
Third Year:
Replace trees/bushes that Need Replaced or added to. See Below.
Fourth Year:
| Type | Kind | Size at full growth | Years to production | Fruit Matures in: |
| (2) Apricots | Sweethearts | semi-dwarf, 12-15 feet | 3rd year | mid-July |
| (2) Nectarines | SunGlo | semi-dwarf, 12-15 feet | 2-3 years | early August |
| (2) Almonds | All-in-One | 15-20 feet | 2-3 years | From September On |
| (2) Hazelnuts |
(1) Barcelona (1) Casina |
15-18 feet | 2-3 years | Late summer on |
Our 3rd-year planting plans got a little bit side-tracked as we lost a few of our 2nd-year trees due to winter weather and a few being run over. So, in 2003, we had to replace 1 apple tree (and may end up replacing a 2nd one). We lost 2 cherry trees, but decided to replace only 1 cherry. We replaced that with a sweet cherry, so as to have 1 pie cherry and 1 sweet cherry tree. We actually ate 4 peaches off one of our peach trees this year. They were sure good. We bought another peach tree to plant this year, so we will have 3 of those, and another Bartlett pear in 2003. Our pecan trees looked like they had died out, but they all came back. They aren't very big, but we are hoping to trade some raspberry canes for some 6 to 7-foot paper-shell pecan trees from Georgia either this fall or next spring.
As you will notice, all our nut trees will be full-sized, and many of our fruit trees will be semi-dwarfs, except apples, which only get 12-15 feet tall anyway. The largest of these trees, pecans at 50 feet tall, are planted in our front yard where they will eventually also provide shade.
Some other additions planned for our orchard:
(These are already planted):
(2) red raspberries (Heritage), ripens June to September. planted 8/02
(2) black raspberries, ripen June to September, planted 8/02
(1) Seedless red grapes, ripen in early August, planted 8/02
(1) Seedless green (white) grapes, ripen in early to mid September planted 8/02
(25) Ozark Beauty Strawberries, ripen early summer to frost, these were planted in April of 2001.
(25) more strawberry plants planted in June, 2002. Pat's grandmother sent these to us from Illinois, and they are huge plants and doing well. :)
(6) Rhubarb plants, ripen from May on, planted April, 2001. We will either have to move these or buy new, as we have changed our orchard location, for the last time.
PLANTED IN 2003:
(1) Blue concord grapes, non-GE (non-genetically-engineered), July, 2003.
(1) Green/white seeded Niangua grapes (non-GE), July 2003.
(2) Poorboy Gooseberries, Ordered August 2002, planted spring, 2003.
STILL TO BE PLANTED, PROBABLY 2004:
(2) Pawpaws
(3) Issai Hardy Kiwis
(2) gold raspberries, Ripens in early August.
We have chosen our plants and trees so that they begin to ripen in May and continue to ripen clear into November. This way, we can stretch out the work and the "fruits" of our labor over 7 months time and continue to enjoy fruit pretty much all year long! Remember, Each tree requires about as much distance between it and the next tree as that particular tree is tall. We are planning on turning most of our front yard and the "island" between our drive and the road into "edible landscaping". When we get done, hopefully, it will be pretty and functional and, for the most part, edible.
Gardening
Updated 7/27/03