Planning For Your New Fruit Orchard

By Glenn Wilson

University of California Cooperative Extension/El Dorado Master Gardener

Publication Date: October 8, 2004

Now is the right time to begin planning for the new fruit orchard that you intend to plant next year. The local nurseries will soon have their bare root fruit trees available for purchasing; they arrive early in January. And, you want to be there early to get the best selection. And, you want to plant your new trees the day you bring them home. Not the next day…not the next weekend…the day you bring them home! Remember, every day that your new trees sit with their roots in soggy woodchips they loose vigor and health.

To be ready for your new trees requires that you do some planning, make some decisions, and take some actions now - before the trees arrive at the nurseries.

The first decision is where to place the orchard. The best site would be on a gentle south facing slope. The south slope would be warmer than a north or east facing slope. When you have no choice, a gentle north facing slope is OK. But, a severe north facing slope is not. It is also good for the site to be slightly sloping so that it drains well. Fruit trees must never have wet feet. Their poor roots rot. A slightly sloping field provides natural drainage - even during the wettest winters.

The site must also be sunny. It must get 8 hours of sun a day. If it doesn't, the fruit trees will not thrive and may not bear fruit. Orchards in the shadow of large trees produce inferior results.

You should try to avoid hollows, canyons, and creek bottoms. In the winter, cold night air moves from the hilltops down the slopes into the basins and hollows. As an example, sometimes it is 15 degrees colder at the bottom of Snows Grade than it is at the top of the grade in Camino. For the orchardist, this creates a problem with spring frosts and freezes. Orchards in bottoms and hollows suffer more from frost damage - loss of fruit buds and fruit - and sometimes tree death.

Ideally, your selected site should have deep and fertile soil - a rare quality in parts of El Dorado County. Speaking more practically, you have to deal with what you've got. But, if you do have a choice, go for the area with the best and deepest soils. Soil does two things - besides holding the tree up. First, it provides nutrients for the trees. Second, it is the water reservoir from which the trees withdraw water to meet their needs. Deeper soil has more nutrients and provides for more water storage.

Regrettably, many of us must plant our trees in fields of rocks with very little soil. To overcome this problem, some resort to dynamite. Others go for raised beds. Either works - but one is easier on your neighbors.

The last site selection issue is water availability. Since you must provide supplemental water in the summer, it is best to locate your orchard where it is convenient to water. There are many water strategies available. These include drip systems, sprinklers, water basins, and hose end soakers. Whichever strategy you choose, you must have the water ready when you buy the trees. A brief period without water - even in the middle of winter - can be fatal to new young trees with small undeveloped roots. And remember, there are often weeks without rain in our winters. The February lull is notorious. So have your water ready when you bring the trees home.

Once all of these “siting” decisions have been made, it is time to dig the holes. You want all of the holes dug before you buy the trees. Each hole should be the depth of the root ball (or pot) and about 3 feet in diameter. This can be hard to do in rocky soil - but do your best. They are definitely easier to dig ahead of time. You don't have to dig all of the holes in one day; you can soak them and try again tomorrow - or when your blisters heal.