making an orchard

bubbles747

i have a one acre plot at the back of my house and i want to plant an orchard on it, plans are to order 3 apple trees off the internet which polinate each other then go to lidl when the fruit trees are in and fill up the rest of the space with various fruit trees.
my question is aside from the pollinating apple trees can any of these plum/cherry/pear etc trees be planted alongside or does there have to be a certain way to be planted eg: (cherry beside apple)
also whats the best way of taking care of the grass growing round trees i dont want to go near the trees with a strimmer.

magicbastarder

if you want to go about this in a serious way, go for a supplier with a better range of trees than lidl and who can offer you better advice.
contact irish seed savers; you'll be able to visit their orchard (and taste the apples too, if you go soon), and they'll be able to advise you on how best to proceed, what might do well in your area, etc.

it'll be more expensive, but you'll have a much better chance of success.

prospect

Sounds like a lovely idea.

I can't advise on the pollinating or planting arrangements, I just threw in 4 apple trees on plum and on pear tree and they are all doing fine.

Regarding the strimming, I got a length of that flexible 8" (i think) drainage pipe and cut it into 1' lengths. I then split it down on side and put it around the bottom of each tree. This means I have more comfort strimming as it acts as an armour.

bubbles747

thanks for the replies
prospect, will definatly be doing the drainpipe thing!! thanks
magicbastarder, i did contact irish seedsavers and they wont deliver to me the trees i want so have contacted a nursery up north who will deliver and give me 3 compatible tripoloid apple trees which baisically means will work well together, these are bramley and cox and another variety so ive tried these types before. i have my homework done on the apple trees so im confidient there,
its the other varieties im not sure of, but however my budget is minimal so lidl for the rest it has to be.

prospect

Where are you based Bubbles?

magicbastarder

bubbles747 wrote: »

magicbastarder, i did contact irish seedsavers and they wont deliver to me the trees i want

they don't stock them? or won't deliver?

fodda

Seed Savers do stock all native fruit trees and they are having an open day on the 24th of sept i think.

One way to keep grass down is mulch your grass cuttings around the trees and then strimmer the rest keeping well away from the young trees. Watch out for hares they will kill all your young trees.

bubbles747

magicbastarder wrote: »

they don't stock them? or won't deliver?

wont deliver, says pick up only.

bubbles747

fodda wrote: »

Seed Savers do stock all native fruit trees and they are having an open day on the 24th of sept i think.

One way to keep grass down is mulch your grass cuttings around the trees and then strimmer the rest keeping well away from the young trees. Watch out for hares they will kill all your young trees.

thanks for the warning we have alot of hares here, and im just after repairing a cat flap this morning that a badger attempted to get into!:) tonight hes going to be caught on cam!:D
seed savers is about 3hrs drive away from me so couldnt go down that far, its a pity because it looks like a nice place too.

muckety

I've got trees in Lidl before and they are growing fine (similar size to those I got from seedsavers too, though on smaller rootstock). Got bramley's seedling if you want more of those? They also had Golden Delicious but I didn't buy that as I don't rate the flavour, but got a Cox's orange which hasn't fruited yet so can't comment.

I also planted a couple of plums (Victoria, Opal) from lidl which are growing but yet to fruit. They are by the apples (3 to 4m away). I think they are fine to plant together as long as you give the required spacing for the rootstock size/ HTH.

bubbles747

would love bramleys seedlings, where can i get it from?

bubbles747

prospect wrote: »

Where are you based Bubbles?

cavan

prospect

A quick google returns this:

http://www.pergolanurseries.ie/

I presume you have tried all the local nurseries.

bubbles747

thanks prospect! would have tried all the main places but never thought of virginia, will be making a trip up there soon!

dardevle

...

something a bit closer to you in terms of travel - apple day is coming up on the 3rd oct at the organic centre in Leitrim...it is run in conjunction with irish seed savers who will have a selection of stock with them and all the advice you will need.....in regards to your choice of varieties, have you given thought to the root stock that you want in terms of tree size/shape?




.......

bubbles747

sounds good, leitrims not far away, i dont know anything about rootstocks etc, im very amatur gardener:o but regarding size i dont mind how big/small they grow have loads of space.

muckety

I'm not an expert but when I was planning my small orchard I went for the bigger rootstocks as this will mean eventually bigger trees. So the trees I got from seedsavers were on a big rootstock, but this means they take a bit longer to mature / fruit. Other trees that I've picked up from Lidl or got from nurserys are on a small rootstock so they won't grow as big. If you have lots of space its worth looking at the bigger rootstock - ask if you get to Leitrim, the guys there will give you good advice! (bigger rootstock trees need to be planted further apart... to allow for the wider root spread).

This may help :-http://www.woodbridgefruittrees.com.au/woodbridgefruittrees/articles/170-rootstocks-explained.html

Another thing to consider is - getting apples for different purposes, so bramleys and other cookers for cooking; eaters that have different characteristics/flavours, other varieties for juicing. I also tried to get eaters that would be ripe over a staggered period, so some earlies (discovery - august) some mid autumn and some late, though in my experience the late ones don't work that well in the irish climate or on our exposed garden site! HTh

Clare man

I have mixed peers and plums with apple tress( 12 trees) with no issues, I got my trees in sees davers and they dleivered bare root after christmas.

for young stock it is important to put on guards as hares do like to nibble on tender trees. I cut away the sod around 18" radius and filled in with seaweed. and grass clippings, makes life easier

My big lesion though was plant in your most shltered spot you have, as if htey are exposed place you risk flowers being blown off in April timeframe and fruit being shaken off later in the year.

last of my apples knocked off otday with high wind

senorG

I set 16 trees last year, mixture of apples, pears, cherries,damsons & plums, got them delivered from www.futureforests.net . They have a good selection and were cheaper than seedsavers.

You can order them now or whenever, and they will deliver them whenever they dig them out, was early december I think last year. I had no failures and have a few apples on some of the trees that were two years old.

Websites like http://www.orangepippin.com/ are good for researching the different apple types, plenty of stuff on youtube too.

Corsendonk

Don't plant conifers around your orchard as a wind break, Bullfinches love to nest in them and also eat the buds of apple trees. Poplar trees are a traditional choice.