Orchard...I do not have a green thumb.

[thealabamaredhead]

What do I need to know about orchards? We are hopefully getting our dream farm in WA, and it has 3 orchards on it. I don't know what kind of trees but it looks like a mix of different things. We are likely going to have to remove 2 of them for horse pasture, but will be keeping the largest one. Is it possible to give away these trees? Can people move them? I will feel bad killing them, but I don't want the horses eating too much fruit. How high maintenance are they to keep up? I think there are between 15-30 trees in the section we will be keeping. Any websites recommended to learn more?

 

[The Mama Chicken]

We are just starting our orchard, so I don't have a lot of advice, but I spend a lot of time on my local extension website. I don't think full grown trees can be moved easily, unless you're an expert with heavy equipment, but I may be wrong.
ETA-

 

[ducks4you]

You need to go to some orchards and ask some questions. One thing that surprised me was the all fruit trees have their tops lopped off--trained, really--so that you don't need a 2-story ladder to harvest!! A 6-step ladder should be the tallest you'll ever need. You could take measurements, too, so you know how far apart to plant. When I put in my trees I used a 100 ft. tape measure, and was picky about the spots the trees would go in. I wanted them to look uniform. I marked each spot with bright spray paint and I was careful digging my hole to stay in that spot.

 

[catjac1975]

What do I need to know about orchards? We are hopefully getting our dream farm in WA, and it has 3 orchards on it. I don't know what kind of trees but it looks like a mix of different things. We are likely going to have to remove 2 of them for horse pasture, but will be keeping the largest one. Is it possible to give away these trees? Can people move them? I will feel bad killing them, but I don't want the horses eating too much fruit. How high maintenance are they to keep up? I think there are between 15-30 trees in the section we will be keeping. Any websites recommended to learn more?

The trees can be moved. I saw it done with fruit trees at the Atlanta Botanical gardens. They saved greens from an old orchard. However I'm sure it's pricy involving those huge tree diggers. Perhaps you can find a place interested in saving the trees.
Fruit trees are a lot of Maintenance staring with pruning NOW. Then spraying fertilizing and even watering . Save what you can maintain. Maybe you could find some one interested in working them to share in the fruit.

 

[vfem]

I keep saying we're maxed out at 9 trees... but hubby is insisting on 3-6 more on our small acre hobby farm. They were a lot of patience and work. We've had disease problems, fertilizing, pruning and treating to do. So far the peaches have been the least amount of stressful work for us, as they thrive in the south. The apple's require the most work, and the pears have been a nightmare of ailments and maintenance with little reward. If I had it to do again, I'd stick with the peaches and nectarines and forgo the rest of it.

 

[ducks4you]

Just FYI: Mature fruit trees shed their fruit late summer, early fall. My small "orchard" has 1 (horse-turnout) golden delicious apple, another GD apple, 1 ? red apple, 1 peach (older and needs a replacement), 2 Montemorency cherries, and 2 pears. (Italicized are the ones I bought and planted, and the others were there when I bought my property in 1999.)
I either pick up the extras to feed to the horses and the chickens (before harvesting my corn beds) or let my horses in (the orchard is fenced in) to clean up the rest.
I have a friend 6 miles up the road who has given me pears from his established trees. Established trees are a LOT of work and create quite a mess. Fruit on the ground attracts a lot of bugs, including yellow jackets.

 

[The Mama Chicken]

Just FYI: Mature fruit trees shed their fruit late summer, early fall. My small "orchard" has 1 (horse-turnout) golden delicious apple, another GD apple, 1 ? red apple, 1 peach (older and needs a replacement), 2 Montemorency cherries, and 2 pears. (Italicized are the ones I bought and planted, and the others were there when I bought my property in 1999.)
I either pick up the extras to feed to the horses and the chickens (before harvesting my corn beds) or let my horses in (the orchard is fenced in) to clean up the rest.
I have a friend 6 miles up the road who has given me pears from his established trees. Established trees are a LOT of work and create quite a mess. Fruit on the ground attracts a lot of bugs, including yellow jackets.

It depends on your location when your trees will drop their fruit. My pears trees have fruit on them into December. My chickens love to help clean up all of the fallen pears and so do the goats.

 

[ducks4you]

True, but some folks regret planting fruit trees bc when they mature they are a lot of upkeep.