Backyard & Family Orchards

The following is a list of the most important factors to consider when choosing trees and planning your orchard.

1. Start by thinking about how much space you have available or are willing to devote to trees. You can look at our spacing guide for an idea of how much space a tree needs to achieve its full “treeness.” If you are planning to plant dwarf trees on a small trellis, your math will be very different from that of a grower who wants an orchard of stately, standard-sized apple trees. If you are dreaming of a medieval espalier, you should decide on the location and size of the espalier before you start shopping.
2. Make sure that the growing area you are considering has soil suitable to grow a healthy tree. You should read our discussion of soil and our suggestions for amending problematic soil.
3. Make sure the location you are considering is sunny. Fruit trees need at least six hours of light per day. The more, the better. 
4. You might not own a tractor and a spray rig, or even a backpack sprayer, and you might be opposed to using chemicals in your garden. Although it is very difficult to cultivate healthy trees without any disease and insect treatments at all, there are plenty of good choices for organic cultivation. Start your shopping journey with disease resistant apples and disease-resistant peaches. This is where you will find trees that have natural resistance or immunity to some of the most common ailments. 
5. Ideally all trees will receive support for the first few years, and some will require permanent support. Make sure you have a support plan before your trees arrive. If you are planting a stake it makes a lot more sense to plant it into the same hole as your tree than to plant the tree and then drive in a stake. 
6. Your trees will need to be protected from deer and rodents. These are among the most common causes of tree death for new growers. Save yourself some heartache and read our deer and rodent pages to find out what measures you can take to stop the critters from destroying your young trees.
7. Some fruit trees, such as apples, need to be pollinated by another tree of a different variety in order to produce fruit. Other trees, such as peaches, do not require a pollinizer. Make sure to check the fertility requirements of each variety you purchase by clicking on the variety and scrolling down to the pollination section.
8. Some fruits can be stored for longer than others before they rot or become unpalatable. Growing fruit that stores well is one way to prolong your enjoyment of the harvest. The storage life of each item in our inventory is part of the information we supply in the variety description.
9. Finally, be prepared to provide your tree with regular care. At a bare minimum, fruit trees need to be watered regularly and pruned once a year.