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Traditional Orchard Design
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The end 1950’s saw a huge turn in cider apple orchard design where before[1], a more traditional style had been used for centuries. Traditional orchards are uncommon, though they can still be found in places like Spain where most growers have maintained traditional systems[2]. Traditional orchards were designed with large spacing between individual large trees (6-12 meters tall and spaced about 7.6-9 meters apart[2]); typically, less than 150 trees per hectare[3]. Trees within an orchard were more variable in age; individual trees would be grown until they die and a new tree would be planted in its place[4]. Older trees in traditional orchards grow gnarled and hollowed for the tree's entire lifespan[1]. The large (7.6 meter) spherical-shaped canopies of traditional methods differ from various planting systems that use conic, flat planar or v-shaped styles[2].
Surrounding the trees, herbaceous plants were arranged along the undergrowth of the orchard[4] where they and the natural grasses were commonly grazed by sheep, cows, etc[4]. Traditional cider orchards were often intercropped and used a mostly silvopastoral system that combined fruit trees and pasture[2]. Management techniques did not use fertilizer or chemicals and generally require less training than modern, high-density systems[5]. Budding of scions took place high up in the tree, typically using vigorous rootstocks or seedlings[2]. Traditional orchards are found to produce apples with lower nitrogen content and higher polyphenolic levels[2].
In recent years, there has been considerable loss of traditional cider orchards and a corresponding loss of orchard design knowledge between generations of apple growers[1]. Traditional orchards have decreased by about 20% since 1994[6]. Decline is attributed to: the high maintenance of large trees and the physical limitations for apple pickers[5], the low yield (10-12 tons per hectare[2]), the slow cropping of trees (15 years compared to the average 8 years of high-density orchards[2]), and the historical changes in regional alcohol preferences. During the 1950's, France subsized growers who converted to high-density orchards. By the 1990's, most of France no longer used traditional orchard styles[2]. By the 1970's, traditional style orchards were used for making 25% of the cider in the United Kingdom[2].
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- ^ a b c Morris, Steven (2009-04-23). "Orchards may vanish by the end of the century, conservationists warn". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Vysini, Eleni; Dunwell, Jim; Froud-Williams, Bob; Hadley, Paul; Hatcher, Paul; Ordidge, Matthew; Shaw, Michael; Battey, Nick (September 2011). "Sustainable Apple Production" (PDF). Archive of Cider Pomology. 7/2/4: 1–145 – via University of Reading.
- ^ "The Traditional British Orchard". www.buildingconservation.com. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
- ^ a b c Elings, Jelger; Kirimbo, Godlove; Li, Xuqing; Mandal, Palash; Van Schelt, Tim; Villa, Jorge (2017). "Enhancing biodiversity in traditional fruit orchards" (PDF). Red Apple: Ecological Consultancy Bureau: 1–60.
- ^ a b "High Density Apple Orchard Management | NC State Extension Publications". content.ces.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
- ^ Schmalzl, Johannes (July 2014). "Protection of Wild Birds in Traditional Orchards of the Central Swabian Alb Foothills and Central Valley of the River Rems" (PDF). Regierungsprasidium Stuttgart: 1–19.