Ghost Dog Orchard

About three years ago, I consulted with my sister about what to plant in front of the house because it is quite a big space.  I’ve always wanted a garden in the front, but wanted to consider other possibilities. I don’t remember much from our conversations except that she wanted cider apples and I agreed it would be a fun experiment.  Little did I know.   

Ghost Dog Orchard before trees

Because the house is designed to be passive solar and the orchard would be in front of the house, I decided to train the trees into espalier form.  This would maximize the number of trees, but minimize the shadows falling on the house in cooler months. The trees are planted in four rows running north-south.  Apples and pears are being trained to a double U form, whereas stone fruits are being trained into fan shapes.



Because I live 1500 miles away from the house, the process of planting the orchard was somewhat absurd.  For best selection, fruit trees should be ordered bare-root in early spring (and I needed very specific varieties). But, trees planted in the fall transplant better.  Another sticky wicket is that espaliered trees must be pruned and trained extensively their first two years.  So, I ordered my trees at home, pruned, trained and nurtured them in 1 gallon pots for seven months, then wrapped them up tightly and drove them cross-country to NM in the back of my pick-up.  Fifteen trees in 2008, 13 in 2009.  Crazy? You bet.



The process began early 2008 when I ordered my first 15 trees- all dwarf apples and pears.  I requested the smallest trees possible because they must be cut down to 18” upon arrival.  The bare-root trees arrived in March and they were spectacular.  (I highly recommend Trees of Antiquity)  the trees were amazing, the selection is fantastic, and the people are great).  I was nearly heartbroken to prune them down to size:

Apples before pruning

Apples after pruning

After the trees were transplanted, they were tied to bamboo poles which were tied to wires.  The wires and posts are temporary and will be removed when the trees have their final shapes, about five more years.  If you squint, you can see the bamboo poles on the wires.  After two years, the trees are still small because they are pruned so often (about every two months) and 1/4 to 1/3 of the recent growth is removed each time. 

The orchard in winter, very quiet.

As the trees grow, the new branches are covered in chicken wire cylinders.  For the most part, branches that escape are allowed to be eaten by deer (next door neighbors, they sleep across the fence) as a form of natural pruning.  In the following photo you can see where deer have browsed above the chicken wire.  Apparently they don't stretch their necks because foliage above head height is untouched. 

Deer damage 2010
 

The trees below show two stages of growth.  The tree with the diagonal branches will be left to grow 'as is' until the branches are long enough to pull into a 90 degree angle.  Pruning the tips of these branches will cause two side shoots to grow and these will be grown at a 45 degree angle The second tree has reached this stage on its left side, but not yet on the right.  Once the final shape is reached, the tree is allowed to grow to its final height (6-8 feet).  Side branches are removed and shoots are carefully pruned multiple times per year. 

Apple tree, 1 year after transplanting

Apple tree #2, 1 year after transplanting

So, at this point, 2 1/2 years into the process, a few of the trees have reached thier final shape, about half are halfway there, and the rest are being very stubborn.  Stubborness seems to be a varietal trait, because all the specimens of a particular variety behave the same way.  This is comforting because it makes me feel that I'm not causing the problem. 

More updates later....