Types of Orchards (And All You Need to Know About Them)

Orchard is a traditional form of fruit growing. Unlike low-fruit plantations, tall trees of different ages and different species grow in traditional orchards. Traditional orchards are generally maintained without the use of artificial preservatives or fertilizers.

There are a lot of different types of orchards, but we can divide them into four main categories:

• fruit orchards
• nut orchards
• seed orchards
• other types of orchards that don’t belong in any of the previous three categories

Importance of Orchards

From an environmental point of view, they are an important part of the cultural landscape. Supporting vegetation provides a suitable habitat for many animal species, and thus has a positive impact on the conservation of biodiversity in the environment.

Traditional orchards are multiple-use agricultural lands: used to produce fruit using grass or meadow for hay production or as pasture. Fruit plantations, on the other hand, consist of low fruit monocultures.

Old fruit varieties are especially resistant to diseases and pests. Different fruit varieties may be regionally specific. The distribution of some species may be limited to several villages, to so-called “local varieties.”

Orchards with traditional tall trees require much more work than a plantation with low-growing trees.

Growing fruit is a very important branch of agricultural production. In well-organized conditions, fruits return higher gross yield per unit than in other agricultural branches production. Specifically, the consumption of fresh fruits and fruit products is increasing with the standard of living.

Due to its nutritional and therapeutic value, fruit enters the menu throughout the whole year. Thanks to the improvement of storage technology, fruit processing, and better transportation, fresh fruits are readily available. However, the price of fruit is still high, so manufacturers achieve good economic effects. Because of all mentioned, the interest of the fruit growers is growing and the growing of fruit is constantly increasing and improving.

• Recommended for you: 17 Things to Know Before Raising an Orchard

The basic goal of modern fruit production is to produce the highest yields of quality fruit. This can be done by having a good knowledge of the profession.

It should be noted that growing fruit is a particularly difficult profession, so good work and success requires a lot of expert knowledge. The fruit grower must have a good knowledge of the biological characteristics of the species, varieties, and rootstocks of the fruit in relation to the external or ecological conditions of the breeding area, as well as the increasingly important technical and economic problems in cultivation.

In different ecological conditions, there are different possibilities for the cultivation of different species and varieties of fruit trees. There are also different deadlines for performing certain engineering and agrotechnical activities interventions. It is difficult to briefly and easily capture all the complexity of the problem in the way it would provide the manufacturer with all the necessary information.

Planting an Orchard

Orchards can be planted in the fall, winter or early spring. It’s important not to plant in frozen and too moist soil. Late spring planting is not recommended.

It is planted at the same depth at which the seedling was in the nursery garden. One worker places the seedling in the middle of the pit and checks that it is in the same direction as the seedlings planted. Another worker plows the soil through the roots of the seedling. The easy movement of the seedling allows for better filling of the space between the veins. The earth is slowly trodden to squeeze the air out and make better contact between the ground and the veins. New soil is added to the layers and is stripped.

If planted in spring, the seedling should be watered with 10 liters of water. Depending on the ameliorative fertilization, NPK fertilizer and manure are added to the top and covered with loose soil. This completes the planting.

Types of Orchards

Fruit Orchards

They include any objects focused on trees yielding fruit. Some popular options are apples, dates, olives, plums, pears and much more. Citrus fruits, such as those containing lemon, orange or lime, can be grown all together in large citrus orchards or individually in smaller establishments. Plantations that grow shrubs that bear fruit usually do not fall into this category. These include berries and other non-tree fruit.

Nut Orchards

They include a large number of trees bearing nuts. The cultivation of nuts has recently become increasingly popular with local fruit growers. Nut orchards include the growth of walnuts, pecans, cashews, and almonds. This category also includes cocoa and coconut. Some orchard owners produce pines for their edible pine nuts. Orchards that focus on this type of pine production also fall into this category.

Seed Orchards

There are orchards that don’t plant fruit or nuts, but instead plant trees that focus on getting seedlings. These seedlings are then sold further for commercial use.

Other Types of Orchards

Some orchards cannot be classified into any of the previous three categories. These growers do not grow fruits, nuts or transplants. This group includes Christmas tree farms, which produce pine trees and holly for the holidays. There are others as well, like maple sugar or maple syrup production. Some even consider coffee-producing facilities into this type of orchard

Although it can be quite complicated, especially in the beginning, do not let it discourage you. Find out what you want to plant in your orchard, whether it fits your climatic conditions, surface, soil, and more, and after that, jump right into it.