Anyone doing the Dave Wilson backyard Orchard method of planting

[ametauss]

I read about Dave Wilson's approach to planting fruit orchards and it sounds interesting... I was wondering if anyone here actually does this and could tell me how it's working for you....

Thanks....

 

[conradpdx]

well I just started it literally a week ago. Planted 2 bare root apples (Fuji and Honeycrips) as a smaller hedge and then an almond. Going to add some pears, cherries, and some cooking apples (perhaps some other nut tree too) in the near future. (I also well as 3 table grapes, four blue berries, and 3 raspberries)

Well I planted them and bravely made my pruning cuts and so far things look good. I know the Almond is starting to bud and the smaller branches on the apples are soft and alive. So so far it looks good.

Since my yard is only 50x100' I'm giving it a go with just a few to see what happens. After all I do need some room for veggie garden, herb garden, chickens, and kids. So I'm all over this. But I can see no reason why it wouldn't work. Fruit trees are often severely pruned this is just doing it 3 times a year rather than every 3 years.

 

[havi]

Where can I find out more info about this type of planting? Im on his website and it looks interesting. I live on a small piece of land(close to an acre) and would love to plant some fruit trees.

 

[Wifezilla]

My backyard is about 50x50. I have 2 apple trees, a pear tree, 2 HUGE grape vines and various flower beds. We are adding a pond for my ducks along with some "duckponics" tanks...more than likely rain barrels positioned to drain back in to the pond after filtering through plants and sand/rock/charcoal.

 

[Backyard Buddies]

I'm involved in a gardening project at our church. We have a 1/4 acre, with one third planted in fruit trees and the other two thirds planted in veggies. Since it was our goal to harvest year round (we can do that here in So. Cal) we figured our best option for that was to use the Wilson method.

We have about 30 trees planted in that area and just planted them last year at this time so we haven't really harvested much yet. We still have a few spots to fill with items that we couldn't find last year.

I'll have to look to see if I can find some more recent pictures, but here's one when we were just beginning the planting.

 

[conradpdx]

Quote:
Look him up on utube. He's got a few vid's on there going over it. But basically it's plant the trees 2-4' apart (varies on what you want), keep them pruned to a height that you can reach from the ground (6-8') and to plant varieties that are early ripening, mid season ripening, and late ripening. So that instead of getting one huge harvest of say apples at once you get smaller harvests that last a lot longer.

I already do this in my raised beds, planting small sections of veggies a couple of weeks apart so that I've got a steadier harvest rather than a rushed harvest.

 

[Leah-yes I know I'm crazy]

I can say for certain that it is best from a home canning and preserving perspective to have staggered harvests. I have six different apple trees and four pear that ripen over a period of nearly three months. There is no way I could handle them all at once. I don't take credit for pre-planning...I happened to find a piece of property for sale that was the orchard area of an old farm that had "no value" because it could not become a residence due to the lot's dimensions. I got ten mature fruit trees and 30ft of grapes for $700. I would add, however, that in my area a fruit tree kept that short would become food for the deer.

 

[Shared Acres]

Neat!

I was just about to plant a bunch of trees and my husband thought I was crazy for wanting to plant them 5' apart, though online said 15'-20'.

 

[conradpdx]

Leah-yes I know I'm crazy :

I can say for certain that it is best from a home canning and preserving perspective to have staggered harvests. I have six different apple trees and four pear that ripen over a period of nearly three months. There is no way I could handle them all at once. I don't take credit for pre-planning...I happened to find a piece of property for sale that was the orchard area of an old farm that had "no value" because it could not become a residence due to the lot's dimensions. I got ten mature fruit trees and 30ft of grapes for $700. I would add, however, that in my area a fruit tree kept that short would become food for the deer.

It's an growing system called the backyard orchard method. It's main purpose is to raise trees on a city lot or small tract. The most nature I gotta look out for are birds and people.

Though when I lived in Detroit Michigan I do remember seeing deer within the city (or at least with a couple miles of it).​

 

[ametauss]

Thanks for the feedback.... Now all I gotta do is find cheap trees.... anyone know of a good place to get cheap trees???