Spacing fruit trees

RMeigs

Hello, I just received 11 fruit trees ordered last winter, and I wonder how much space I should leave between them. I live in southeastern Pennsylvania, so water should not be a problem most summers, and the location I've chosen is a meadow sloping slightly to the south, so they should have plenty of sun.

Thanks,

R. Meigs

windthrown

It depends on if they are dwarf, semi-dwarf or full size trees. Also depened on how you will prune them. Usually people tend to plant fruit trees too close together. For dwarf trees, I usually space them about 10-12 feet apart using a central leader pruning system. For espallier pruning in rows, you can go closer to about 8-10 feet. For an open vase pruning, they need more room (I would not recommend this pruing as it puts more strain on the trunk where they branches form). For semi-dwarf trees I would go with 15-20 foot spacing. For full size trees like apples, they need to be 25-30 feet apart.

It also depends on what type of mower you have, and/or tractor. I planted my vineyard and orchards slightly wider so that the tractor could get in and mow the rows. You need to have enough room to get a brush hog in there to mow. I would also recommend a drip irrigation system. Far less water used, and far happier trees early on. Also you want to avoid sun scald on south slopes. Sun will burn the bark of the smaller trees, especially in late winter months, and during the summer on lightly leafed newly planted trees. So apply whitewash on the trunks. I use white exterior latex paint about 1:1 with water as a whitewash. You can also mix salt, lime and water to make a whitewash (dissolve one pound of salt in one gallon of water, and then stir in 3-4 pounds of hydrated lime). I used a sprayer to apply the whitewash, but you can also use a brush.