Growing a Fruit Orchard

[Tenuse]

Dear all,

Imminently my fruit trees and bushes will be arriving (and only a quarter of their ground dug, eek!). I have planned the tree layout as follows:

               Plum                                Apple
      (marjorie's sdlg)          (unknown!)

               Plum                                    Apple
      (victoria)                      (Laxton's Sprb)

              Cherry                          Apple
         (morello)                    (james grieves)

         Cherry                            Apple
           (stella)                         (discovery)

I hope I will end up with a nice little orchard.

My question is, what should I do in between the trees? Should I buy some grass seed and grass it over, or should I put down carpets, or compost, or what??

All suggestions welcome...


Ten x

[Tenuse]

[budgiebreeder]

I have grass in mine .You have to beaar in mind that it will be shady and it is wisse to leave a circle of soil round the actual trunk.

[campanula]

i think you should have grass in an orchard too - you need to have something to lie on while you gaze up at your lush fruit crops

[Tenuse]

will a ring of clear soil be enough to stop the grass competing with the trees for nutrients?

And how will I tell real grass and couch grass apart, we have a lot of couch!!

Ten x

[gavin]

Hi Tenuse

Absolutely no suggestions - just very best wishes (and a greenish envious tinge!)

All best - Gavin

[Tenuse]

Don't be envious yet gavin, I have no idea if they will grow well or not yet!

The apple trees are all planted already, they need a bit of pruning but they were an absolute bargain in September at £5 per tree (and they're already five/six feet high).

The plums and cherries are coming bare rooted and I feel they will be little more than twigs!!! so I don't think I'll be getting much off them for a few years!

Also I'm not sure how well the sweet cherry will do in Sheffield... but I'm going to have a go anyway :-)

Just got a lot of digging to do first...

Ten x

[Palustris]

It will take a while for the roots of your fruit trees to extend beyond the branch spread so I would suggest a circle of about a metre in diameter should be ok.
It is almost impossible to stop couch growing in any grass, so dig out as much as you can ,then ordinary mowing will keep it down (a bit).
Great fun though, growing fruit. I have just had two Cox type apples after dinner, from our trees. And if Cherries can fruit here then Sheffiekd is a doddle for them.

[budgiebreeder]

I'm your neighbour in Huddersfield and I have aStella  and a Morella both do pretty well until the squirrels find them, well its a race between squirrels and children.I can't really say anything as we raided enough Orchards as children.

[Tenuse]

Marvellous!

I am trying to plan anti-squirrel and bird devices, I can't afford a fruit cage. So I guess it will have to be some form of netting. Or camp out there when they're about to ripen and get there first!!

Ten x