Planting an orchard

[BishopOakAntiques]

We’ve managed to get a wildlife grant to plant an orchard of 112 trees in our field. We’re up in the Durham Dales in the North Pennines, so weather is - um - interesting in winter, and soil is impenetrably heavy clay.

Clever folks of the gardening forum - any tips for good varieties of fruit trees to grow in these somewhat unpromising conditions? Or for digging all the holes without actually breaking my back? :-)

You will have to think about rootstocks. You can buy the variety of fruit tree that you want on the rootstock which is most suitable for your conditions. There are rootstocks that will create big trees and other rootstocks that will create a smaller tree. If you're wanting big trees then you will plant them further apart.

Apple trees grafted on semi-dwarfing rootstock (MM 106) are more tolerant of clay soil than those grafted on dwarfing rootstock (MM9). Apples are generally hardier than other fruit trees and will thrive in clay soil if given some additional care.

With apple you want to have varieties that flower at the same time so they pollinate each other but ripen at different times. So something like Discovery (early ripener) and Spartan (later ripener). You don't have to get varieties that all flower at the same time, just as long as each has a pollination partner. There are late varieties that can be kept through the winter indoors.

The most important thing though is to leave apples on the tree long enough for them to develop their delightful flavours. A Spartan apple, for example, when picked under-ripe tastes much like any other apple. But when left on the tree they develop a lovely rich flavour as nice as a peach. Although lots of people don't know what ripe peaches are like. And others insist on a crisp apple that isn't truly ripe.

As for digging holes, this is pure speculation but I have always thought that hiring one of those small mechanical diggers would be a good thing. Not digging a hole but digging trenches, planting your trees along them then backfilling. If you are on a slope the trenches could run downhill and help drainage. Put some compost in with the soil and maybe a few daffodil bulbs too.

Can't advice on the trees (though my pear tree does well in wet clay soil) - but as I'm a fundraiser working with nature reserves, who is this funder that doesn't ask too many questions about planting conditions and detailed plans? 😅

@Agapornis to be fair I do have an agreed planting plan and about 70 varieties that I’m fairly sure will do well - (mostly drawn from the Northern Pomona by Lin Hawthorne, which is a wonderful book) but asking here as the wise women of mumsnet probably know lots of things that I don’t! :-) we’re being helped by the North Pennines National Landscape nature recovery fund.

Contact the local scouts and ask for help? Or any other organisation with healthy young people who might enjoy a bit of exercise and feeling helpful - Goodgym, is an organisation that combines fitness with voluntary work

Oh that’s a very good idea - thank you!

We have extremely heavy clay soil. 10 years ago we bought 2 apple trees from tesco of all places, 2 for £20. They have done amazingly and produce vast amounts of fruit every year.
Im obviously not suggesting you do the same, but just suggesting that you don't necessarily need expensive trees.

Haven't the organisations you have got the grant from have links to people who can help? There must be specialist tree people around you, or maybe try the local young farmers.

It's going to be be hard work and you want to get it right, a lot of new young trees can fail and it would be heartbreaking to lose too many because they haven't been properly planted.

Good luck! What are you planning to do with all the fruit?

Make sure you have a James Greave - it does well in the north and is an early eater - possible to start eating it raw in August.

Re the clay, I'm on very heavy clay too - all my 'planting' (apart from the bog garden) is done on higher ground which enables the plant to cope a bit better but still put tap roots down to access the water in the clay. You might want to try something like ridge and farrow so that you can plant in rows on slightly higher ground - this sort of thing is often done for woodland planting so you might get some help from looking for that?

Glad there's a planting plan, haha!

If you want to raise more money, I'd approach some local companies to pay £30-50pp for a company day out. They love tree planting (and some others jobs, 112 trees will go quickly). Could be a nice chunk of unrestricted funding.

Have you considered contacting Lin Hawthorne for advice? Looks like she might have retired a few years ago, but she's here on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/linden-hawthorne-4847075a and there's a CV with contact details here https://independent.academia.edu/Lindenhawthorne/CurriculumVitae

I'd also contact The Orchard Project if you haven't already
https://www.theorchardproject.org.uk/

Forestry England at Hamsterley Forest might be able to give you some advice - I know they have some staff in common with Chopwell Woods and they have recently planted an orchard there... obviously the conditions are very different where you are but I just meant there may be a bit of tree expertise not too far away from you

I bought 2 apple trees a few years ago from Tesco or somewhere like that. One was Spartan and the other was Discovery, my two favourite varieties. I planted them then waited a few years. They were definitely NOT Spartan or Discovery. Who knows what they were, but they weren't the varieties that they were supposed to be.

So unless you don't care what varieties you have, get them from a good supplier. And put NO SUBSTITUTIONS!