? about area around fruit trees

We live on 10acres and I planted several small / new fruit trees out in one of our meadows. (several peach, a sugar-pear...plum)

My neighbor has commented that fruit trees need to have at least 15' of cleared ground around them and suggested "Round-Up". I'm NOT a big fan of using Round-Up around vegetation that I eat from. I have used it on the poison oak that grows around here.

Anybody have any experience / suggestions....??....

Many thanks...
Jann

I have never done that. i do plant them 15 feet apart.

So you don't worry about whether there's grass growing up close to them..??..

not really, i only clear a few feet around them and mulch the grass into the dirt. we do have erosion issues here and leaving it helps lessen the issue. i do mow between them and keep it short, and as the trees grow less ans less will grow under them

Did your neighbor say WHY you should clear the whole (future) root zone? I would keep a clear area around the trunks so you can watch them for problems, and so you don't have to get close to the trunks and risk hitting them with the mower or weed whacker. I would avoid letting anything grow over the root ball until the tree is established so there is less competition for water. But I would not use Roundup that close to the tree - I would use mulch, or landscape fabric, or cardboard, or something to smother the weeds. I wouldn't worry about grass growing 1-2' or more from the tree; and I don't know why your neighbor is. Also I'm a great believer in biodiversity and plants to attract beneficial insects and pollinators. If you already have a natural meadow, I wouldn't try and kill it off!!

Hi pollen...

My neighbor's concern is that the weeds/grass are competing for the nutrients.

When I planted my trees I layed cardboard out about 2' around the base and also a berm ring of mulch. I also put about 12in of the flexible, accordion-like pipe/tubing - that I slit up one side - to put around the trunk so that any weed-wacking won't damage the trunk.

I appreciate your responses...

Jann

Check this out:

http://onestraw.wordpress.com/sub-acre-ag/permaculture-guilds-a-primer/

a guild of supportive plantings around a fruit tree helps according to what i understand here, no need for roundup if you do it this way. I intend to try this this year with some new plantings..... Starting with an idea I ran across in the book mentioned in the post I linked which is to thickly plant a ring of bulbs around the dripline area of the tree to repel the grass from encroaching, and then inside the circle to plant various helper plants. For instance, comfrey which you can slash and leave on the ground for a renewable green manure, yarrow to bring up deep nutrients from soil and make available to shallower feeder roots, plants that attract beneficial insects, etc etc.

do a little googling for guild gardening/apple trees and see what you find! Lots of variations possible but it seems much healthier and saner than chemicals or fighting grass......

To sum up -
Your trees will need extra water until established, and will continue to need water during during dry periods.
If they seem to have a nutrient deficiency, blame the native soil - not the native plants - and get a soil test done.
Wild WOODY trees, shrubs, and vines might offer more serious competition - keep them from crowding your trees.
Nature abhors a vacuum: bare soil isn't natural - or healthy - soil. Organic orchards and nut farms always have plants growing between the trees (see Kylaluaz's post above), and all the non-organic ones I've seen had some sort of mow-able grass, the bare spots under them were caused by shade.

Mulch is fine, too.

One thing to keep in mind is why you are growing the trees. In nature, fruit trees make fruit to entice animals to distribute their seeds. Nobody prunes any branches, and the tree shades out its competing vegetation as best it can (keeping the ones that will help attract the distribution animals).

If you're trying to get fruit for yourself to eat, that's not exactly what you want. You'll space the trees, you'll prune some branches, you'll thin the fruit, you'll implement schemes to keep birds and squirrels away, etc. So factor in your goals when deciding which cultivation theory to follow.

Arborists typically recommend a hands width deep of mulch out to the drip line (with a hands width bare around the trunk), and watering an inch every other week in winter, and every week in summer.


With 10 acres, you've got a lot of opportunity to experiment. Let us know what you learn...

I've noticed that all the u-pick'em orchards around here in southeast NH have grass growing up and under the drip line. My in-laws have an established apple orchard within a meadow. Of course these are well established trees.