What do you know about your soil? Your soil can limit what you successfully grow. Blueberries, hardy grapes, American persimmons, apples, pears, disease resistant hazelnuts, walnuts, hardy plums, and Nanking cherry. Eastern growers are constantly bitching about disease and pest problems with their stone fruits, so I would look for resistant varieties if you go that route. You can probably bite off more than you can chew very easily with stone fruits. You don’t look like you have a lot of drainage in that field, so you could have cracking and brownrot issues in stone fruits, in addition to the stuff that attacks the tree.
I would start with a sure thing, and add the iffy fruits after you get going. Early success will encourage you to plant more. If you are overwhelmed with problem trees early on, it could discourage you from the whole endeavor. I would go with dwarf or semi-dwarf rootstocks on the apple and pear, but consider a more vigorous rootstock for stone fruits. You can prune aggressively to keep them in check, and the extra vigor may help it overcome pest and disease damage. I would keep stone fruits short enough that you can easily treat the whole tree for pest and disease. They may not bear a ton of fruit, but you will cherish the ones it makes.
I love nectarines, sweet cherries, and peaches; but I have to be realistic with what I can grow in my climate, so I am only devoting a small space to these trees.
I thought the same thing last year, but a buck managed to strip several plum trees and break apple limbs with his rack.
Lots of great advice here. I have packed a lot of trees on a small area of my yard all apples on bud-9 (dwarf) are spaced 3’ apart and row spacing 8 ft. They are trained tall spindle so they are slender. right now i have 70 apples and have grafted 40 more to plant this spring. They are in a spot roughly 50x140 If you want a lot of varieties this might b a good option. I also have a few espalier this is also a good option.
I was going to say that UNH extension recommends peaches for NH, but then I re-read their peach document and it says extreme southern NH! So, good call.
That being said, @JillDief may have some luck with espalier, or just accepting not getting peaches most years. And Fedco recommends Garnet Beauty for northern districts. In my experience, Fedco means areas north of them in Waterville when they say that.
For people who have grown fruit trees in colder zones for 10 years or more, we tend to get reality bites, often more than once .
For @JillDief, two things I see that will be challenging: her choice of fruit tree - peach and her intention to grow it organically. Tough combination.
People zone-push all the time. As long as a person is armed with knowledge and reasonable expectations, things can be tolerable if they don’t go your way.
Showing a blank, unplanted area like that is a great way to get the adrenaline flowing. It’s got me thinking “if I could do this all over again what would I do differently?”. My zone is way off from yours, but I do have a little advice. One basic problem is that your goals may change (a lot) over time, and with trees you sort of get locked in to a basic layout. Of course trees do die off or get damaged or you may dislike one or more varieties and cut them out, but the basic layout is there. In my case I wish I would have built in some more flexibility so that I could morph the garden toward my changing interests…a grid of trees is hard to change. I would start with a master plan: map out the site, including structures that cast shade, and start playing around with layouts. A grid-like orchard? A diverse food forest with curvy swales? A native area with a pond surrounded by trees? And walking paths? Border/beds for low annuals/herbaceous perennials? A seating area, with shade from taller trees? A pollinator garden in addition to trees? It goes on and on. It can be a lot to think about…and if you know some good experienced gardeners in your area it would help to see their gardens and talk to them…ever better get into a local Master Gardener program and then you’ll really see a lot of stuff to get ideas from. Needless to say I am very jealous of you. Have fun!
You have LOTS of room! However with the cold and short growing season, pick your rootstock and apple varieties correctly. I would think Bud 9 would be cold hardy enough for apples in your area. At least it would be a smaller apple tree so easier to control for pruning, picking ect.
I know those in Maine have issues with cold hardiness on certain rootstocks. I recall a "pastor chuck’ growing peaches somewhat successfully in Maine. Not sure if he posted on this site or the old Garden web forum. Just mentioning that because if you go for peaches try Reliance or Contender for your best bet in such a northern area.
Perhaps others will recall but Elwyn Meader developed Reliance peach. Wasn’t he from New Hampshire?
For apples check out the listing on Fedco. They talk about cold hardy apple rootstocks too. Definitely stay away from anything offered at a chain store!
I think I’m probably in about the same zone as you. I just started planting 3 years ago and don’t have much space so take my advice with a grain of salt. From experience i can say it’s worth researching whether a variety is disease resistant. My Liberty apple is my best tree (it’s known for disease resistance). Pears are also looking good though i haven’t had fruit yet. I’ve had good luck with gooseberries and currants. I was also happy with my grapes (Concord and Trollhaugen) last year. I see a lot of advice towards dwarf rootstock. I have a mix of dwarf and semi dwarf. The semi dwarf all seem to do better. I think @hungryfrozencanuck4b may have a point about getting more vigorous trees and either summer pruning to manage size or grafting to add variety in cold climates.
I like the YouTube series by Dave Wilson nursery on Backyard Orchard Culture as a new grower to get an idea about what you can do to manage tree size or grow multi grafted trees. Not sure if summer pruning increases disease risk east off the Rockies or not. I’d be interested in advice on that from those with more experience.
FYI, New Hampshire is actually fairly strict on currant and gooseberry varieties due to white pine blister rust concerns. You need to apply for a permit, which is free. I think the permits are mostly for tracking purposes so they can study things if there’s another outbreak. I’ve linked the info below. I’ve emailed back and forth with the state getting clarification, so let me know if you have any questions.
I highly recommend berries (ie straw, rasp, honey and even blue depending on ph) as well as currants and gooseberries ss easy, low maintenance and quick to give fruit…i would plan your fruit tree planting and start small with 1-2 of each kind of fruit you want so you can see how they do/learn to graft on other varieties and then expand your plantings of what you want and what works well in your area…also spreads the workload out as well!
BEAUTIFUL photos! You and I are just approaching it from a different angle. You have more, smaller trees to get variety. I am recommending fewer, larger trees and multi-grafting to get variety. What zone are you? My Bud9 are now approaching 5-7 years in the ground (bought at 2-3 years old) and only 1 of 9 is over 7’ tall. They are not happy in my wet, clay soil and zone 4b Canada (USDA 3b). My semi-standards are doing great though.
i like a mix of trees and brush fruit to give you some fruit sooner while waiting for the trees to mature. raspberries strawberries, black berries , blueberries and some currants usually start to give you fruit in 2 yrs. fall bearing rasps will produce some the 1st year if planted early and most can be managed for a summer and fall crop. they are also a lot more organic friendly. at least here they are.
.