Start a Home Orchard

Do you want to start a home orchard? Few things are as rewarding as picking the sun-ripened fruits of your labour! Take a look at this useful article.

Gone are the days where orchards were banished to the back garden, or needed large expanses of meadow, to grow in row upon row. With so many compact hybrids of fruit trees becoming available to us gardeners, get digging and plant an orchard! Not only will you have the benefit of fruit, but trees also provide shade and attract pollinators. This is all beneficial to creating a healthy and diverse ecosystem. With a few simple observations of your garden, good planning and the right choice of trees, your home orchard could give you years of bounty.

Deciding on where to plant

The ideal planting area should be level enough to support the tree roots, with fertile loamy soil. Should you discover that your soil
is clay, it can be amended with compost and soil conditioners, to help with drainage. Neighbouring trees that block light should be pruned. Fruit trees need the maximum amount of sunlight for a good yield. South Africa experiences diverse weather patterns. Choose trees that are best adapted to your climate. Areas exposed to high wind can damage trees. This is also the case of low-laying frost pockets in colder regions.

Choosing your trees

Attempting to grow fruit trees from seed has caused many a misery for gardeners. Trees often do not fruit. When they do, the mature fruit can be poor in taste. There are many benefits of purchasing grafted trees: they are more disease-resistant and are adaptable to different soil conditions. By combining healthy root stock that can sufficiently take up nutrients and water from the soil, with a quality fruit-bearing cutting, growers can guarantee a harvest within 2 – 4 years, depending on the variety.

Planting

Young trees will need ample space to grow. To give them the best start possible, space at least 4m apart and the planting hole needs to be at least double the depth and width of the bag it was bought in. This will be the most labour-intensive part of starting your home orchard. But restricting the roots and digging the hole too small, will only amount to a stressed tree as it matures. Should the hole be round or square? It is often advised that a square hole is dug. The feeder roots can then navigate away from the trunk, penetrating the perimeter soil, growing a stronger root system. Round holes generally cause roots to grow in a circular manner around the perimeter of the wall, restricting root development.

Good Soil

Place a 10cm layer of course gravel at the bottom of the hole, to assist with drainage. Mix half the soil excavated from digging with a good quality compost, adding organic fertiliser and bonemeal to it. At this point, it is important to establish the level that the tree will be planted at. Add your soil mix, little by little to the hole, making sure that the trunk is at the same level as it is in the nursery bag. Submerging the trunk below the soil line could cause rot and disease. Placing the tree to high in the hole, can cause soil erosion around the tree roots and dry them out.

Remove the nursery bag by cutting 2 slits, from top to bottom on either side. Keep as much soil intact around the roots and place into the hole. This is a good time to stake your young tree. Plac 2 stakes opposite each other in the hole, in line with the trunk. Tie each stake, forming a figure 8 to the tree, to allow some movement of the trunk. Roots grow vigorously in the first year. Staking later can cause damage to the root ball if not done correctly.

Create a Berm

Fill around the plant and stakes with your soil mix and firm down. With the other half of the excavated soil, create a berm. A berm is a raised circle of soil, much like a well, around the tree. It will direct the water directly to the tree roots without runoff. Give your tree a good watering and fertiliser again after 6 weeks. Label your plant with the name of the cultivar and planting date.

READ MORE: Click here for some Fruit Tree troubleshooting!

Pruning

Although many smaller cultivars are available, your orchard plants will still need pruning. Pruning to shape to allow sufficient light and air to flow through the tree does not have to be a stressful exercise. Use the right tools – sharp disinfected secateurs and saws for cutting branches at a 45° angle. Trees should also never be pruned more than a third of its size. In the first couple of years, pruning is the most important. This allows strong branches to form.

Pay attention to branches

In the first year, remove a third of the central stem, to stimulate lateral growth and more side branches. By stimulating side shoots, your grafted tree might start growing branches below the graft (root stock). Remove these immediately as it can be detrimental to the quality of your fruit. At year 2, five strong side branches can be identified, and smaller branches can be pruned away. Your identified branches should never cross the trunk and should have an outward facing growth.

By year 3, the side branches would have developed side shoots. Select 3 healthy sideshoots from each branch, that will shape the tree and remove the rest.

Maintain your tree shape by removing branches that cross the trunk, as they grow. Some fruit trees need to be pruned and fertilised at specific times of the year. Understanding your trees requirements will ensure a healthy orchard.

Be Creative

The wonderful life of gardening allows us to be creative. Spaces should reflect our personalities as they mature. Even an orchard can have flair! Introduce other plants to enhance our experiences with nature and the plants we grow and eat. Imagine your orchard underplanted with leafy shade-tolerant veggies, edible flowers or sweet-smelling herbs. A functional garden for you to enjoy. Limited space? Fruit trees grown in large pots, can be just as functional as long as the trees are well fertilised often and grown in a sunny position.