Tree planting sweetspot... and recommendations requested

[newbury]

If at all possible plow and terrace it this fall. That way the freeze thaw cycles can work on it and you should have good planting come spring.

Also you might try talking with Drew http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/members/daugen.html because he has done a lot of posting over on the "Good Morning" thread on planting his acreage and various mail order nurseries.

 

[Dadnatron]

The area in which I live is mainly Ash, Oak, redbud, dogwood, and Buckeye. Osage orange, Maple, sycamore, have been brought in and planted and seem to work well. Actually, about anything seems to grow well in the area, other than <5 zone requirements.

This planting, however, will be strictly for fruit/nut production. I'll likely scatter some other fruit/nut bearing trees around the farm as well, but this orchard will be just for fruit/nuts. It might end up just as a fruit only location. I have fence rows for berrys and hazelnuts, I have a great grove of Ash and buckeyes in which I plan on giving a good seeding of mushrooms. It has a spring and is 'damp, dark, and cool' all year long.

I love this place... and I'm excited to work towards making it what I can see in my mind's eye.

 

[deanocraft]

I am fond of trees that add color to the woods in the fall, like sassafras and maples. At our place, in western NC, we have mostly poplars. We have been dropping seeds from an eastern redbud tree for the last couple years into our woods... and when we come across some sassafras or maple saplings, we transplant them in. We plan to plant some fruit trees either this winter or next spring. I think the arborday foundation has some cheap saplings...

 

[Streetcar]

How close is emerald Ash borer to your location?
They have decimated Ash around Cincinnati. Individual trees can be saved with yearly treatments.
Stark brothers is mail order with great variety of fruit trees

 

[Dadnatron]

How close is emerald Ash borer to your location?
They have decimated Ash around Cincinnati. Individual trees can be saved with yearly treatments.
Stark brothers is mail order with great variety of fruit trees

We have 400yo Blue Ash, which are essentially immune to the borer if the trees are healthy. I've been trying to find a source for new Blue Ash, but given the scare from the Emerald Ash Borer, no one is selling any trees or seedlings. My trees are so old, I don't think they are producing seeds any longer. And I haven't found any seedlings at all.

But yes, the Emerald Ash Borer has devastated the areas Ash... all except for the Blue Ash.

 

[ruffdog]

Plenty of Ash firewood around here because they are all dying.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Ive had great success throwing sprouting acorns in the ground, or in mulch. I have some nice oaks that grew pretty fast.
If you was close id give you some 15'-20' oak trees. Got a few i grew just because i like planting trees and seeds.

 

[Dadnatron]

I have an area in which I want to specifically plant an 'orchard'. About 3/4ac on a small hillside. I don't know the pitch, and it is likely less than it appears. It can be driven in all directions, so isn't too steep. But, I'd like to terrace it and plant 'fruit/nut' type trees on it. The work of terracing it won't be hard, but I want to try to insure I design the whole spot well.

I know next to nothing about fruit trees, and don't want an inordinate amount of work/upkeep. But some isn't too bad.

Does anyone have an experience in terracing or a link/info on designing such a thing? Again, this is NOT very steep, but enough that row cropping it would be difficult. So, they just put it in grass and left it.

And... speaking of grass. What type of grass would you plant for UNDER the trees? There is nothing there now. I plowed and disced the hillside last fall/spring. So I can plant anything which makes sense and would be easiest to deal with and most beneficial overall, to a long term orchard. Both in upkeep and in orchard optimal ground cover.

 

[Dadnatron]

This is a Sat image of the space for the proposed orchard. About 3/4ac with Southern exposure.

 

[MossRoad]

Terracing requires dirt work. Dirt work exposes the soil to erosion. You'll have to slope the terraces away from the edge, back towards the hill, then provide drainage at the back side to remove the accumulated water.... VS just leaving a natural hillside with grasses that control erosion that's probably already in place.

As a kid, there were 4 houses on our block on top of an escarpment. My dad terraced his back away from the edge of the escarpement, and provided drainage at the back edge to move rainwater away through pipes, down the hill. The other 3 neighbors sloped their yards towards the downhill, to expose the view.

All three had major washout problems, but ours.

Anytime you change natural drainage, you really gotta plan out what to do with the water it'll catch in a large rain.