Too late at this point. Too crowded to get a tractor in there. A broad fork won’t even do anything because the hardpan is deeper than the tines. The more I disturb the soil, the worse it gets. I’m just scraping off the sod and weeds with a sharpened hoe and planting on top of the hard pan. Should work out ok. This area is particularly bad, the rest of the property is much better, and the main orchard is further south in soil with more rocks and less organic matter but less hardpan.
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How deep before the hardpan starts?
6-8". Maybe 10, whatever the depth of a spadeing fork tines are. I’d be worried of the wind uprooting them mostly, but the apples are all dwarf and will be trellised, or are nursery stock and will be moved. And the peaches are seedlings that haven’t been blown over yet despite frequent high winds, sometimes 50-60mph (2-3 times each year at least).
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I would think most of your roots would grow on top of the hardpan and wind might become a issue when your tree gets bigger and it might uproot the roots and soil on top. Alfalfa might be your best option to break up your soil, if you put some lime on the soil.
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I was planting the apples and dug up some of the peach roots, they extend 3x the drip line right now. Maybe that will help. I’ll figure something for the hardpan. Maybe broadfork with longer tines.
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Also the pan underneath is firm, but it breaks up into smaller chunks fairly easy, I think the worms have been tilling it for a few years now. It doesn’t act like concrete.
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That should probably not be such a big problem then we have some spots where it is a brick and weeds like sunflowers that grow on it can easily be pulled because the roots don’t go through it, and make a flat bottom when pulled. (Thinking now that sounds perfect to grow sunchokes on🤔)