Looking for advice on a new orchard layout

silver_yummies

5 year old buck +
I am hoping some folks here can chime in and give me some advice on how I should go about planting a small orchard on a new piece of property I purchased recently.

Some quick info that might be helpful - I am in Zone 4B - West Central WI. The apples and pears will be for deer/wildlife as well as human consumption. I am ordering 50 total trees from Cummins Nursery - mostly on B118 rootstock based on what I have read. The field I am going to plant these in the spring of next year currently has soybeans in it currently if that matters. Below are the trees I will plant.

Variety Fruit Rootstock Qty
Ashmead's Kernel Apple B.118 2
Chestnut Crab Apple B.118 5
Crimson Topaz Apple B.118 2
Enterprise Apple B.118 4
Florina Querina Apple B.118 4
Galarina Apple B.118 6
Golden Russet Apple B.118 2
GoldRush Apple B.118 3
Honeycrisp Apple P.18 3
Liberty Apple M.111 3
Sundance Apple B.118 3
Wickson Crab Apple M.111 2
Winecrisp Apple P.18 3
Wolf River Apple B.118 3
Flemish Beauty Pear OHxF 87 1
Luscious Pear OHxF 87 1
Parker Pear OHxF 87 1
Summercrisp Pear OHxF 97 2

Does spacing of 16' in rows and 20' between rows sound about right for these trees?? I am attaching an image as well showing how I intend to place the rows of trees - North is the top of the picture - that open field is 2 acres in size. The land ever so slightly flows North to south as far as slope - minimal slope, but it is there. Blue arrows represent the rows of trees directions - at least the best way to plant them in my mind at the moment. Do you agree with that? So they would flow from SW to the NE.

Any thoughts on how I should plant the tree variety's? Do I group all of the same variety trees next to each other? Do I space them out evenly in the orchard to help cross pollinate? Any thoughts here?

I think the pear trees need to be placed next to each other so they can pollinate each other.

I have been browing this forum and QDMA (now closed) long enough to know I need to train the branches/spray program/protect trees from rodents and deer. I will be painting the trunks with the 50/50 latex paint and water. Applying window screens around the base as well. My thought is to buy the 5' tall remesh and have a 5' diamater with 1 T post stake in the ground holding it in place. No mulch or rocks - will Oust/roundup to keep weeds down. I have access to a water tank I can pull into the lot and water the trees if rain doesn't come. I will have 3-4 others for sure helping me on planting day to help get the trees in the ground ASAP.

What am I missing??

Thanks for your help on this endevour of mine!
 

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The list of trees didn't come out very clean in the 1st post so I have attached an image of the list below.
 

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Soil test?
 
Terrific list!

I'd have a slight preference for planting in rows in an east-west orientation (i.e., along the north edge of your field), but that's probably a personal preference.

Other than planting apples-close-to-apples and pears-close-to-pears, I think your planting order should be dictated by your stand location and preferred hunting season, i.e., if you hunt with a bow make sure that you have Sept-Oct fruit dropping within bow distance of your stand.

Re: spacing, with those rootstocks I planted 20' within rows and 25' between rows.

Re: your planting technique, don't forget to staple screen at the base of your leaders to protect against mice and rabbits. Every year it seems like someone raises their hand saying that they skimped and lost trees as a result. Let us know if you need pictures of the best practice for that and someone in the group will provide.

You're off to a great start!
 
Lot2Learn - appreciate the feedback.

Spacing - I might try 18' in rows and 22' between just to cheat them closer and get more in the space. Good point on the stand locations as well. Do I want to place the P.18 rootstocks in the back (Northern most row) since they will grow the largest or shouldn't it matter?

Stapling screens - yep, saw a post on how to staple the screens together before. I think CrazyEd has something on the QDMA site.
 
So Lot2Learn - you would prefer to run the rows like I have in this attachment? Can you give me your reasoning? Just curious is all because at this point I don't know which way would be more beneficial.
 

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My reasoning is that putting the fruit trees along the northern edge of a field gives them maximum exposure to sunlight coming from a southern sun traveling east-west. If you put the trees on the western edge as you originally laid out, they'll be in the shade for a couple-or-more hours in the afternoon. All this assumes the the northern edge isn't a low point in the field...you want to try to avoid putting the trees in a frost pocket.

I'd generally try to get your p.18 trees in the northern most row, but I'd focus more on drop times and stand locations. Four rows of twelve trees can quickly put you out of bow range depending on your stand location.

I notice you're in zone 4B. Maybe some of the northern guys can comment on your list, but I'd wonder if you'll be able to ripen Goldrush in your zone.
 
I don't think I'd be doing 20 feet spacing with B118, I did '30 spacing in my orchard (thats still growing). You may get away with 25 but those trees will be quite large one day, have to factor that in, the more sunlight on each side of the tree the better off it will be.
 
The Northern edge would be the 'high' point if you want to call it that in that field. This field is sitting above some bottom land so it's not in a low area.

Yeah, I am questioning the GoldRush and a couple other variety's I have on order at the moment. Not sure the Crimson Topaz or the Sundance will fully develop either but I am willing to give them a try. They should hang late onto the trees in the winter I would think if they don't fully mature - maybe I am wrong on that statement. Anybody have any luck with those varieties in the North? What about Wickson crab??

As far as stand placement, I am not too worried. They should be entering the field on the North or west side in 1-2 main spots I can hunt over as well. I plan to plant a strip of food plot running North/South on the East side of the field to get them to use that while they walk to the apples.
 
I don't think I'd be doing 20 feet spacing with B118, I did '30 spacing in my orchard (thats still growing). You may get away with 25 but those trees will be quite large one day, have to factor that in, the more sunlight on each side of the tree the better off it will be.

Is that 30' spacing between rows or in rows? or both? I might have to cut the number of trees I order down if I really need 30' between trees.
 
I have '30 spacing between rows and in rows. This orchard contains B118, Ranetka, & Antonovka, however I'd have used '30 spacing if I had just sole B118 which I will be using solely in the future.
 
18 x 22 spacing is within the spacing recommendations for B118. Some would plant a little tighter. I planted at 30ft spacing but then immediately decided I wanted more trees. So I am now at 15ft within row and 30ft between. I will prune to shape then as they grow but it will be years before they will encroach on each other. Nothing wrong with 30ft if you have more discipline than me.
 

According to that calculator and using these values:
C = 4
R = 9
S = 2
I = 1
M = 1
And height I put at 18' - not real sure how tall I can expect them to reach.

It comes out to 17' in row spacing and roughly 23.5' between rows... so 18' x 22' should be OK I am thinking after all?
 
I planted two Goldrush in zone 4. One died from winter kill one is trying to hang on. I would add some zone 3 trees for insurance. I have also lost Liberty and Enterprise from winter kill. All from cummins.
 
I planted mine in a grid pattern for convenience. As I add trees, I'm planting them in more irregular patterns for a more natural look. Most of mine are from Chris at Turkey Creek. Awesome guy to deal with.
 
I take it you don't have cedars if planting a gold rush,what about other things such as fireblight in the pears
 
I take it you don't have cedars if planting a gold rush,what about other things such as fireblight in the pears

Goldrush is a great choice. I have cedars and they cause some spotting on the leaves but don't impact the fruit. I have close to 80 trees in the ground, 40+ that are bearing age, and over 25 varieties. We had 25 degrees during bloom this spring. I have 4 trees with any fruit on them, and if I have 12 apples combined on those 4 trees that is a generous estimate. 2 of the trees are Goldrush, one is Frostbite, one is enterprise.

Oh yeah I had Goldrush hang on the tree until March this past winter.

Just sayin'.
 
Goldrush is a great choice. I have cedars and they cause some spotting on the leaves but don't impact the fruit. I have close to 80 trees in the ground, 40+ that are bearing age, and over 25 varieties. We had 25 degrees during bloom this spring. I have 4 trees with any fruit on them, and if I have 12 apples combined on those 4 trees that is a generous estimate. 2 of the trees are Goldrush, one is Frostbite, one is enterprise.

Oh yeah I had Goldrush hang on the tree until March this past winter.

Just sayin'.

What about a dr heirloom variety like Roxbury Russet in Z4?




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