North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Sue Christensen <sue@hoodel.com>]

I have about 18 trees planted in my small fruit orchard--apple and 
pear only so far-- and the beginnings of a nut orchard.  These trees 
all went in March 07 and have been hand watered by hose weekly due to 
the ongoing drought in the Mid-Atlantic. I think we may have had one 
week where watering wasn't absolutely required.

Our OLD farmhouse has no external spigots, so we have to run a hose 
up from the cellar on the far side of the house and add enough 100 ft 
hose extensions to get past the veg garden to the orchard. I think we 
have 4 extensions with a fifth to reach the nuts.  What do you do 
about watering after leaf fall? Do you?  I can imagine the difficulty 
with trying to schlep a cold inflexible hose out there after temps 
fall drastically.

I'd be interested in finding out how you keep your established trees 
watered year round. I  don't *think* I see irrigation systems being 
used in the commercial orchards on the hills around me, but I could 
be wrong.
Does rain normally take care of most orchards in a normal year or is 
it nearly always required to supplement the weather by our own 
efforts?

Sue
Adams County. PA zone 6
Normal rainfall @ 42-44".  2007 rain to date-22"