Hi all,
I'm looking for ideas on how to grow fruit trees, vegetables and berries on a very sunny, northeastern-facing slope (northeast edge is low, southwest edge is high). Most of what I've read online assumes that anything north facing is shaded, but in our case, we chose this slope because it is the sunniest part of our property. It's an old horse field with few tall trees around the perimeter. The area we want to plant in is about 4,000 sq ft, deer fenced. The mild/moderate slope has good drainage, even though the soil is compacted. The north (bottom) end of the slope has a very shallow, seasonal watercourse that runs just about 10 feet beyond the fence line. More soggy than flowing in winter months; at the fence's edge, water is visible in post holes at about the 2 foot mark in winter/spring. A south-facing hill rises up on the other side of watercourse, meaning there is a very little valley between the two slopes. In the winter, the air in the valley is cooler than higher up the slopes.
I'm very new to permaculture (design) and am trying to make some decisions about where to site the fruit and nut trees we want to grow in this space. Some have suggested growing them higher up (southern end) on the slope because the drainage is better, and keeping them small so they don't shade the areas beyond them. Other logic might suggest planting them closer to the northern border, so they act as a bit of a wind block and don't prevent sun from falling on the rest of the slope/growing area. They could be at risk of having wet feet, though, if they are too close to the northern edge and water course. (We are growing apples, pears, plums, cherries, hazelnuts.)
Keep in mind this slope gets an immense amount of sun in the summer and has no current sources of shade. I am on the east coast of Vancouver Island, which experiences wet winters and very hot, dry summers (no rain for months on end).
My questions:
- Is having the orchard on the slope the biggest priority, therefore I work around the shade they create for other plants?
- Is having the orchard along the northeast edge a priority, because it will block the wind while maintaining sun on rest of slope?
- Does either work and there are other more important considerations to factor in? One things is that we cannot move the growing area, for now, as the south-facing slope is more treed and extremely rocky.
If anyone has ideas or great resources for how to think through this design question, I'm all ears. Thanks!
