Orchard Intro
Fruit Tree Chilling Requirement
Dave Wilson: Fruit Tree Chilling Requirement (Good Explanation)
GrowOrganic.com: Chill Hours: What Are They, How do I Count Them, and Why do My Fruit Trees Care?
Saddle Brook area is on the cusp between 7b and 8a and would likely experience about 750 chill hours on average.
See Plant Map for Zip Code 78163: Zip code 78631, Harper TX is in USDA Hardiness Zone 8a: 10F to 15F.
Using updated climate data through 2010, 78631 is in the Plantmaps Hardiness Zone 8a: 10F to 15F.
The average first frost in 78631 is between November 1 – 10, while the average last frost occurs between March 21 – 31.
78631 is part of Ecoregion 30a – Edwards Plateau Woodland.
78631 averages 91 – 120 days per year where the temperatue exceeds 86°F.
The average annual high temperature in 78631 is 77°F and the average annual low temperature is 51°F.
The average high temperature in July (Summer) is 92°F, while the average high temperature in January (Winter) is 60°F.
Sources of Nursery Stock
Fanick Nursery and Garden Center, 1025 Holmgreen Rd, San Antonio, TX 78220 (210-648-1303) claims to carry the largest selection of fruit trees in Texas. Over 140+ varieties of Fruit trees, including their own John Fanick peach, Fan-Stil Pear, Fan-Cris Pear, and the famous Texas size Fan-Blue Giant fig. Walk-in, not mail order.
GrowOrganic.com (Peaceful Valley Farm, Grass Valley, CA 95945, Zone 8a-9a) is a good source of descriptions, comparative fruiting time, etc. Allows selection by harvest time. Reasonable mail order source, but Texas-friendly varieties may be best purchased at Texas nurseries.
Kuffel Creek Apple Nursery, Riverside, California 92516. Specialize in growing apple trees for hot climates, but that doesn’t mean they won’t grow in more moderate climates. “We sell exclusively benchgrafts, infant trees consisting of a rootstock (the roots of the tree) with a scion (cutting) of the desired variety grafted onto it. The benchgraft is bare-root and dormant and can be economically shipped long distances and grows vigorously when planted, often reaching six feet (2 meters) the first season. Our shipping season runs February through April, with no availability the rest of the year.” Order by phone. Minimum order of 10 @$10.00 each. (Interesting website of small family business.)
Bob Wells Nursery, 17160 County Road 4100, Lindale TX 75771, Zone 7b – good mail order source.
Womack Nursery, 2551 State Hwy 6, De Leon, TX 76444-6333 (254-893-6497) Zone 7b-8a. Good Nursery source.
Can’t really ignore Stark Brothers, possibly the oldest major nursery in North America.
Check Dave’s Plant Scout for Nursery reviews.
Dave Wilson Nursery (Wholesale source for nurseries) Decent descriptions. Keep handy for checking out trees found at local nurseries.
Van Well Nursery Wholesale supplier of nurseries. Sells rootstocks – good descriptions.
Planting on Berms
Assuming very little topsoil and a berm of 2′ deep, 6′ wide, tree spacing of 15′: Requirement per tree would be 6 yards of soil. Half rocks and half soil should be fine, as long as the result is not heavily alkaline. The rocks would help anchor the roots. Areas between berms would act as swales and would be best filled with wood chips.
Soil depth for trees should be at least 1 1/2′ – 2′ below mulch level. More mulch wold require less soil. But roots need to be anchored in firm soil.
Check if the planting area can be broken up to sufficient depth by equipment, adding smaller amounts of soil and lots of compost and wood chips. Scraping top soil into berms and using wood chips to fill the scraped area would be practical. The chips between berms (swale area) would not have to be placed immediately, but the berms should be mulched to prevent weeds from taking hold.
Paul Gautschi (of Back to Eden Gardening fame) has very deep (16-18″) tree chips in his orchard. Perhaps it would be practical to plant trees in brms with only 6-8″ of chips, with deeper mulch in between.
