Orchard design for the new apple orchard

Designing the orchard requires decisions on where the rows will be and what tree spacing is best. Remember to leave enough space to turn orchard equipment including tractor with sprayer, as well as bin trailer, and possibly platforms in the future. Consider the location of tile drainage and the source of irrigation and spray water. Larger orchards may also require a location to store bins and load trucks at harvest.

Row direction: A north-south row orientation is preferred so that trees intercept the maximum amount of sunlight through the growing season. This becomes more important as rows are narrower and trees are taller. Some sites may have limitations from air movement, prevailing winds, field shape, or slopes that make this impractical or unsafe. However, rows that run north-south will produce higher yields and better quality fruit.

Tree spacing: The optimum tree density is approximately 1000 trees/acre (range is 900-1300 trees/acre). Research has shown that this density provides the most profitable production in our climate. This tree density can be achieved at several popular row spacings as this chart illustrates:

Tree density per acre at various spacings

	Distance between trees in the same row (feet)
Distance between rows of trees (feet)	1	2	3	4	5	6
9	4840	2420	1613	1210	968	807
10	4356	2178	1453	1089	871	726
11	3960	1980	1320	990	792	660
12	3630	1815	1210	908	726	605
13	3351	1675	1117	838	670	558
14	3111	1556	1037	778	622	519

Tree density per hectare at various spacings

	Distance between trees in the same row (feet)
Distance between rows of trees (feet)	0.3	0.5	1	1.25	1.5	2
3	11,111	6,667	4,444	3,333	2,667	2,222
3.3	10,101	6,061	4,040	3,030	2,424	2,020
3.5	9,524	5,714	3,810	2,857	2,286	1,905
3.8	8,772	5,263	3,509	2,632	2,105	1,754
4	8,333	5,000	3,333	2,500	2,000	1,667
4.3	7,752	4,651	3,101	2,326	1,860	1,550

Bolded cells show preferred spacing combinations.

Most growers choose a row spacing that suits their machinery, and vary the in-row spacing to adjust for the expected vigour of the scion/rootstock combination.

Ontario growers who have experimented with higher densities tend to continue to plant each orchard at a closer spacing, as they become comfortable with the required management. There are some successful plantings at more than 2000 trees/acre, but this system requires much more management.

Related Links:

• Site selection for new plantings
• Nursery trees for the new orchard
• Preparing for planting the new apple orchard
• Planting the new apple orchard
• Care for new plantings
  
• Training the new apple tree
• Training systems for the new apple orchard
• Training tall spindle trees – Year 2
• Training tall spindle trees - Year 3-5
• Your orchard's midterm report card: Part 1 - Your tree
• Your orchard's mid-term report card: Part 2 - The orchard floor
• Your orchard's mid-term report card: Part 3 - Your crop