fruit trees and shade

Hi permies!

My question is actually simple: do fruit trees benefit from being in shade *before* they start producing fruit?
I am here talking about fruit trees that will need full sun to produce (fig, apples, chestnuts, and so on).

I am trying to implement a food forest. Here is regarded as hardiness zone 9, so it goes below zero ºC in winter and above 35ºC in summer.

I ask my question because this autumn I will plant my trees. Every single traditional farmer tells me I need to cut all the bushes now and move the soil (i.e. use a tractor and do everything at once). But I am actually wondering whether this is simply going to increase wind, hot sun, remove shade, protection against frost and remove humidity from the soil, and was thinking of approaching this as simply clearing the necessary bushes / shrubs when I will start planting. Also just digging the holes with a metal bar on the necessary places to plant each tree instead of moving all the soil (of course, using organic mulch and taking good care of the planting process). I will begin with planting the canopy and dwarf tree layers, so my question is whether having this "protection" from native bushes will increase the chances of survival of my fruit trees in the first year. Then as I remove the native bushes after a first season of survival of the fruit trees, I will plant immediately the lower layers of the forest exactly where I remove the bushes, so the fruit trees will have more sun automatically. This is just my intuition. Sounds good?

(Just in case you're wondering what i mean with "bush", here it goes: Ulex minor, Cytisus grandiflorus, Rubus ulmifolius, Hedera helix, Daphne gnidium, Erica cinerea, etc.)

Best regards and thanks in advance!
Fernando

Hey Fernando,
I think your plan is sound. Shade should be ok while the young plants get used to their new spot.
One challenge you might face is keeping the young plants safe when you are clearing out the old plants. That can be messy work.
Good luck!

Fernando, your proposal will probably work, but I wouldn't say the fruit tree will benefit. They may only tolerate it. Fig, for example, wants all of the sun it can get. In a shady spot in the forest, it might be a fifty percent chance that it does enough photosynthesis to survive through the next winter. I've never done what your plan is before. I planted in full sun, and had to baby the plant for the first year (give it plenty of water). Your plan might encourage your fruit trees to grow spindly, in an effort to reach the sun. This could be good or bad, depending on whether you want a bush or a tree. And that's all I got :D.