Why Location Matters More Than You Think

A fruit tree is a long-term investment. Get the planting spot right and you can look forward to twenty, thirty, even fifty years of reliable cropping from the same tree. Get it wrong, and you will spend those years fighting the same battles — canker, poor pollination, split fruit and trees that sulk rather than thrive. In my experience, most disappointing orchards fail not because of the variety chosen or the pruning carried out, but because of where the trees were put in the ground.

Before you order a single bare-root tree, spend a day or two simply watching your plot. Late winter is ideal: the sun sits low, the trees are bare, and you can see exactly where light falls and where water gathers.

Sunlight: Aim for Six Hours or More

Fruit needs sunshine. A tree in full sun ripens its wood properly, forms strong fruiting buds and produces sweeter, better-coloured fruit. As a working rule, aim for at least six hours of direct sunlight a day through the growing season. Eight or more is better for apricots, peaches and sweet cherries, which are the fussiest of the common orchard fruits.

Be wary of shade from things that will grow. A neighbour's leylandii hedge or a young oak casts a modest shadow in February and a serious one by June. Apples and pears will tolerate a little afternoon shade, but plums, cherries and most soft fruit will not repay you for it.

If every option has some shade, choose the spot that catches the morning sun. Early light dries dew from the leaves, and that alone does more to prevent scab and canker than almost anything else you can do.

Shelter Without Shade

Wind is the quiet enemy of a new orchard. It rocks young trees, tearing new roots and slowing establishment, and it batters blossom so badly that bees stay at home. On exposed sites, branches rub and wound, and disease finds an easy way in.

What you want is a permeable barrier — something that filters wind rather than stopping it dead. A solid fence or wall simply pushes the gale over the top and dumps it in turbulence on the far side, which can be worse than no shelter at all. Good choices include:

• A native hedgerow of hawthorn, hazel or blackthorn, planted three to four metres upwind of the trees
• Post-and-rail fencing with a woven windbreak membrane fixed to it
• A slatted screen or trellis, letting perhaps half the wind pass through

Leave a gap between shelter and trees of roughly the shelter's own height, so cold air can drain away rather than pooling behind it.

Soil, Drainage and Depth

Fruit trees hate wet feet. A root zone that sits waterlogged through winter loses oxygen, kills fine roots and opens the door to root-rotting diseases that can finish a tree off within a season or two. The ideal is a deep, free-draining loam, but most soils can be made to work with a little thought.

Test drainage before planting. Dig a hole roughly 60cm deep and wide in winter, fill it with water, and see how long it takes to empty. If it is still full after twenty-four hours, you have a problem to solve.

On heavy clay, plant on a slight mound, work in plenty of well-rotted organic matter, and choose a more tolerant rootstock. On thin chalk or gravel, improve the planting area generously and water diligently for the first two or three summers. Also check for buried rubble, old paths or a shallow pan of compacted subsoil — all of which will stop roots in their tracks.

Avoiding Frost Pockets

Cold air behaves like water: it flows downhill and collects in hollows, at the foot of slopes, and behind solid hedges or walls. A frost pocket can sit two or three degrees colder than ground only a few metres higher, and in a late spring frost that is the difference between a full crop and none at all.

The tell-tale signs are easy to read once you know them: rushes and moss, lingering morning fog, poor growth in existing trees, and blossom blackened while neighbouring gardens escape. If you spot them, plant elsewhere — ideally mid-slope on a gentle incline, where cold air drains away freely.

Where a frost pocket is unavoidable, choose later-flowering varieties such as Bramley or a late plum, and keep the grass around the trunks short. Long grass holds cold air close to the ground and makes the problem noticeably worse.

Access, Space and Thinking Ahead

Finally, be practical. You will need to get a wheelbarrow, a ladder and eventually perhaps a trailer to those trees, so leave a sensible route in. Allow for the mature spread: a full standard apple can reach eight metres, though most garden trees on dwarfing rootstocks will stay within three.

Keep a clear metre around each trunk, free of grass and weeds, for the first few years while the tree establishes. Site trees well away from drains, soakaways and underground services, and remember that roots travel further than most people expect.

An hour spent observing now will save you years of frustration later. Choose a sunny, sheltered, well-drained spot, avoid the frost pockets and the boggy corners, and your orchard will reward you generously for decades.