Orchard design

This 1-day training course is intended for anyone thinking of establishing an orchard or becoming involved in a community orchard project.  You will learn about the various aspects of designing a new orchard, including how to assess your orchard site, different planting patterns, and how to determine the number and choice of fruit tree varieties.  At the end of the course you should be confident about starting your own orchard project.

Mount Ephraim Gardens is about 45 minutes by car from the M25, and about 10 minutes by taxi from Faversham railway station.

NB. We are also going to run this course at another venue in northern England - please get in touch if you might be interested.

Topics covered:

Orchard objectives, kinds of fruit, uses

Site survey and evaluation

Choice of rootstock and planting distance

Planting pattern

Number and choice of varieties

Orchard layout

Projected yield

Field exercises:

A site survey and appraisal exercise and a planting pattern exercise.

Case studies:

Discussion of sites of particular interest to you.

You will need:

Warm outdoor clothes including boots, a clipboard, writing materials and calculator. You are encouraged to bring photos of your own site and/or trees for the case study discussion.

Knowledge of the basics of fruit growing, and preferably some experience, will be helpful.

The capacity to be active outdoors.

Course tutor

Dr Philip Wilson has worked in various aspects of top fruit culture and plant propagation and has an orchard containing over 120 varieties. He originated www.rootle.info, a resource for orchard design.

Philip will be supported by Richard Borrie, the Editor of www.orangepippin.com.

Cost

£125 including lunch and refreshments.

Number of places

Maximum of 12.

Booking, cancellation and refunds

To reserve your place, please click the 'Add to Basket' button below, and then follow the instructions to complete the checkout process.  You will not be asked to pay at this time but your place will be reserved.  We will request payment nearer the time.

You can cancel your place at any time until you have paid.  If you wish to cancel after you have paid, we will refund your payment less a 10% booking charge.

Recommended reading

General background can be found in any popular text, such as:

Baker, H. Growing Fruit. 1999. Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Practical Gardening Series. Mitchell Beazley, London. ISBN 1 84000153 4.

Hessayon, D.G. 1995. The Fruit Expert. Expert Books, Transworld Publishers, London.

Orchard design articles can be found at www.rootle.info

Directions

Directions to Mount Ephraim Gardens (PDF 180K)

Leaflet about Mount Ephraim Gardens (PDF 1.8Mb)

Further questions

If you have any other questions about the content of this course, you can get in touch with us here.