My wife and I just purchased a 3/4 acre tract of land in North Texas that was an extension of a traditional, monoculture peach orchard. Fortunately, the original contour (fairly flat, with a slight slope - all Black Prairie Clay soil) of the land was left in tact. Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly), the ~30 peach trees on it were planted in rows without any thought given for the contour or other ecological factors. I’ve attached an aerial photo here. As you can see, other than waning mounds of mulch at the base of each tree, the land is covered in grass that was mowed down before we purchased it, leaving no protection for the already stressed soil. Many of the peach trees are stressed, and several are suffering from gummosis.
My current thoughts:
1) Harvest water via pond
We hope to dig a pond at the lowest point of the land to harvest the water before it runs off.
2) Swales & Berms on contour
We also hope to catch and slow the movement of water via swales & berms dug on-contour. My current plan is to find the healthiest peach tree(s) and make them part of the future berm by digging a swale just above the slope from the maturity line. I haven’t read anywhere about an effort to retrofit existing trees into berms…which may be a hint, but I’m not sure. I’m thinking that if I’m careful with the roots, that they may play a nice role in structuring the berm?
I’d also like to channel swale overflows via breaks in the berms that would allow the water flow the water toward the pond.
3) Remove/Move off-contour (off-swale) trees
With the above planning, we can determine which trees ought to be removed, but plan to utilize them for mulch and/or in the berms where possible. Otherwise, we may consider relocating some of the trees in the winter when they’re dormant — however I think making way for diversity leaves no other choice than to remove some and re-think other fruit trees that would live on contour/berm.
4) Establish Fruit Tree Guilds
Once we get to the fall, we’re thinking of planting Garlic near the base of the trees, strawberries & nasturtiums just outside of that, legumes/fixers on the maturity line, and attractors just inside of it. Seems like all of these would work really nicely together and give the trees some much needed love.
5) Cover the soil
We’ll likely plant clover or vetch all over the place as part of our first priority to cover up the soil.
Anyway… what errors am I headed toward, and what else should I be thinking about?
The orchard is the triangular tract- blackberries line the front about 50 feet from the road, and the lowest point of the land (where we're thinking the pond will go) is marked.
THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!!!
