I have a small "orchard" started. In this I have 10 old fashion apple trees, 4 blackberry, 4 raspberry and 8 blueberries. In the fall I want to plant 4 peach trees, 2 cherry, 2 plum and 10 muscadine. My question is: will there be problems from panting so many variety together?space is not a problem, I want them close together for watering purposes.( each variety is planted as the standard requires.(

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), June 19, 2000

Answers

Debbie, We have such an orchard with peaches, plums, grapes, pears, figs and persimmons planted on 10' centers. Only problem we had was mowing the grass around the trees. We solved that problem by mulching 6" deep with oak leaves. This mulch had an unexpected benefit. Before we mulched we had problems with borers. After we mulched, no more borers and tons more fruit. Good luck, John and Pat

-- John and Pat James (jjames@n-jcenter.com), June 20, 2000.

John & Pat, you mentioned you used oak leaves to mulch around your trees and this stopped the borers--do you think it was the "type" of mulch you used, or just the fact that you did mulch? I have a problem with borers and have used a small amount of straw to mulch with. Thanks!

-- Wendy@GraceAcres (wjl7@hotmail.com), June 20, 2000.