First-Time Fruit Tree Planting

Hi all,

I'm planning to plant a small orchard this fall on about half an acre in Zone 7b, with full sun and fairly heavy clay soil. I’ve already started improving the soil with wood chips and compost over the past year.

So far, I’ve selected a few apple, pear, and plum varieties that are supposed to do well in my area. I’m planting bare-root trees and spacing them about 15-20 feet apart.

I’m interested in natural pest management, building healthy soil, and setting up good companion plants around the trees. I’ve read a bit about fruit tree guilds, but I’d love to hear what has worked for you especially plants that actually thrive under fruit trees and help with pest control or nutrient cycling.

Any advice from your own experience would be really appreciated!

Thanks,
Harry

Have you looked into using the Ellen White Method of planting trees?

https://permies.com/t/160325/Ellen-White-Method-tree-planting

For pest management:

https://permies.com/t/96977/Natural-pest-control-garden

Welcome to Permies!

I'm on sand instead of clay but more organic matter is always the answer. Fruit trees seem to love woodchips, at least in my context.

My friend in Illinois has heavy clay subsoil and lost 90% of the fruit trees that were planted starting 15 years ago. Her vegetables thrive in the improved topsoil. How deep your soil improvements penetrate deep down? Śomething that is beneficial for shallow rooted vegetables may be inadequate for deep rooted trees. Do you know the depth of the heavy clay layer?
Please research the rootstocks of the trees before you commit to purchase, since some rootsrocks handle heavy soils better - they may have shallower root system which as a side effect, will be not able to handle arid conditions and will provide less anchorage.
What is your precipitation pattern/amount?
In the fruit growing area where I live, the common practice when renewing the orchard, is to chip all the old trees, deep rip the soil and incorporate the chips deeply. These are usually prime sandy loams, but sometimes with higher clay contents.

I'm in 7b and have planted a wide variety of fruit trees over the last 7 years with very mixed results.

I don't recommend peaches or nectarines. The trees grow extremely fast and fruit very early but mine have been nothing but breeding/feeding grounds for oriental fruit moths and stink bugs.

Have had a bit more success with plums, though they are vulnerable to unpredictable spring frosts.

I've lost several apples and pears to fire blight, but my dolgo crabapples appear to be resistant.

Tried a couple pomegranates but they couldn't take the winters.

Cherries do pretty well but they take a long time to start bearing and the birds get first dibs.

Have a lot of persimmons going now, but it's too soon to report on them. They are very cheap and widely available from state forestry departments though.

My only unqualified successes have been figs and mulberries. Figs hate the winter and die all the way to the ground after the first frost but they come back with a vengeance in spring. And they are very pest and disease resistant. No bug wants to touch them when they are green; they'll go after them once they start to ripen but the ripening process is so quick that you can usually beat them to it.

Nothing can touch mulberries however for sheer vigor and production. They are extremely quick to grow and fruit. No disease seems to be able to stop them. Birds love the fruit but they produce so much there's always some left over. Their only downside is how short the shelf-life is for the fruit. Gotta eat them quick or dry/freeze them. It's also a great fodder and firewood tree that coppices/pollards better than any other tree I've encountered other than invasive stuff like privet.

If you're willing to look beyond fruit, I also highly recommend hybrid chestnuts. Another super-vigorous grower that's early to bear and extremely productive.