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Anyone here growing a fruit forest? (slrpnk.net)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/greenspace@beehaw.org
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If so, which fruits and other plants are you growing?

What is currently producing?

How do you manage the size of your trees?

Do you make compost, or do you only use mulch to build soil fertility?

Which climate are you in?

I'm interested to know how popular fruit forests are in this community and how others are doing it.

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[–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

Sounds like you've got a great thing going! Maintaining fertility by mulching with cut vegetation and composting "waste" is really important. How big is your fruit forest? Do you plan to diversify further and fill up the field? How small do you plan to keep the trees? I've found that pruning tall trees with a pole saw is really tedious and exhausting. Do you have a particular method that's easier?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    There are maybe 6 or so of the cherry trees, counting out the young ones 5 apple trees and 1 plum tree. The apple trees have gotten too big and I have been removing fairly big branches so most of the effort is processing the resulting cuttings. So far I have done it little by little, so it hasn't been too taxing.

    I will probably plant rowans and more smaller berry bushes. Maybe construct some wicking beds for smaller plants.

    This year's effort will be lightening up the canopy to ensure enough light in the lower layers.

    Tools I have for this: chainsaw, clearing saw, pole saw, shredder. I also sometimes use a flip saw to process smaller branches as I find the chainsaw... Untrustworthy . I have spent a total of perhaps 300e on the tools, not counting the flip saw - patiently waiting for good used tools to become available and fixing broken ones has served me well. Latest addition is a Klippo lawn mower. Got it for free, spent 40e fixing it and it works now. A new one is over 900. Granted this values my own time at 0e, but... The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

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