An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production.
If you have the land and passion, starting an apple orchard can be an excellent business opportunity. Whether you want to grow a commercial apple orchard or just a small hobby orchard, you’ll need to start with the same simple steps.
When considering how to start an orchard, the first thing you’ll need to do is decide what kind of fruits, vegetables, and/or nuts you want to plant in the orchard.
An orchard has around 150 – 180 trees per acre. A higher density orchard has 450 – 600 trees. The answer to how many trees make up an orchard can vary based on personal goals.
The average size of an orchard is approximately 100 acres, but some cover as many as 4,000 acres. As many as 45,000 workers carefully handpick apples to prevent bruising.
- Most modern commercial orchards are planted for a single variety of fruit.
- Smaller trees on dwarfing rootstocks are ideal for growing more varieties in a limited small orchard space.
- An apple tree starts producing small crops in three years after planting.
- Most fruit trees need oils every five years for maintenance.
- Seed orchards are common worldwide.