Renovating Old Orchards MICHAEL SMITH
DEPARTMENT OF HORTICULTURE AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY
Why Renovate
• REDUCE TREE CROWDING TO IMPROVE PRODUCTION & QUALITY
• ELIMINATE DAMAGED TREES
• REPLACE OLD POOR-PERFORMING VARIETIES
• GAIN DISEASE OR INSECT RESISTANCE?
0
100
200
300
400
500
10 27 34 36 74
Cross-sectional trunk area/acre
lbs./
acre
7-year average
NATIVE PECAN YIELD AT DIFFERENT TREE DENSITIES
Remove Entire Orchard vs. Individual Trees
ENTIRE ORCHARD
Allows greater opportunity to fix drainage problems
No decisions or supervision required during tree removal
Orchard uniformity
Eliminates cash flow for 6 or more years
INDIVIDUAL TREES
Maintains cash flow
Slows growth of new trees
Greater difficulty in managing young and old trees
Selective tree removal with cutter & skidder
Cost $45/acre Removed 3-6 trees/acre
1 part Remedy, 3 parts diesel
Selective tree removal with track hoe
$45 to $50/tree
Tree removal with Stumpster Thinned 30-year-old ‘Pawnee’ ≈ 18” diameter
2 min/tree to cut
Tractor with grapple to remove trees
Machine cost ≈ $5000
Tree Disposal Free firewood and then burn remains
Sell firewood and then burn remains
Sell logs (only significant market for good native timber) and burn remains
Burn everything
Orchard Design Pecans are typically planted at a higher density, and then thinned as the trees become crowded.
◦ 40’x40’ = 27 trees/a
◦ 56’x56’ = 14 trees/a
◦ 80’x80’ = 7 trees/a
Hedging delays the need for tree removal, but does not eliminate the need to thin trees.
3 1 3 1 3
1 2 1 2 1
3 1 3 1 3
1 2 1 2 1
3 1 3 1 3
1 2 1 2 1
3 1 3 1 3
40’
56’ 80’
Pattern tree removal
Selective tree removal
Make an orchard map - Should indicate
cultivar, health and size of trees
30C7 30 ft diameter canopy
‘Cape Fear’
score of 7 on a 10 point scale
Selective Tree Removal Not selectively thinned Selectively thinned twice
water data
d 5 75 y 3 55 y 1 5 d 6 25 d 7 35 d 7 10 d 7 10 d 5 50tesche nay be topworked to schley, weak tree -cut1 65
s 7 5 d 4 60 y 2 70 s 5 5 d 5 35 d 6 55 y 3 5 d 4 60
d 4 90 y 4 5 d 3 15 d 5 5 d 5 85 y 4 60 s 3 85 s 6 65 y 2 25
s 4 5 d 3 80 s 7 55 s 4 80 y 3 5 d 4 90 y 4 5 d 3 20 d 6 5
s 5 55 d 5 5 d 3 75 y 3 5 d 3 65 s 4 5 d 4 85 s 5 well 55
d 6 5 d 3 85 y 4 5 d 4 25 d 5 5 d 3 75 y 3 5 d 5 45 d 5 55
d 6 90 y 3 10 d 5 20 d 6 90 y 3 5 d 4 65 y 2 65 y 2 5 d 4 60
valve
y 2 5 d 5 60 y 2 85 y 3 20 d 5 65 s 5 25 d 5 70 s 6
d 7 85 s 6 20 d 5 65 y 3 30 d 5 65 y 2 5 d 4 70
d 6 5 d 6 25 d 6 60 s 5 60d (or Alley)4 75 s 4 90 s 7 5 d 3 80 y 3 25
3 15 o 6 95 s 8 15 a 7 90 s 8 5 o 4 50 d 8 5 z 4 90 s 7 45 d 7 85 s 4
+ 15 g 4 + + + +
6 45 u 8 5 u 2 20 g 5 15 g 4 100 s 8 35 o 8 20 z 7 10 o 7 5 u 7 15 o 6
+ 10 o 6 + 15 a 8 + 15 o 6 + + 10 o 4
9 45 d 6 35 u 7 95 s 8 15 a 5 5 o 4 20 u 8 5 z 4 95 s 7 90 s 7 20 u 8
+ + + + +
6 5 u 7 35 d 5 20 a 7 95 s 8 30 u 7 40 o 8 95 s 7 5 o 3 45 u 7 10 o 5
+ + + + + 15 o 6
7 15 o 5 100 s 8 15 a 6 10 a 5 95 s 7 25 u 7 10 o 5 95 s 8 40 d? 6 50 d 7
+ 20 a 7 + + 20 o 6 + +
6 5 u 6 10 o 6 20 a 7 80 s 5 20 u 7 20 o 6 15 z 5 10 o 6 5 u 5 55 d 7
5 + + valve + + +
8 5 o 4 85 s 7 5 a 4 15 a 7 15 o 5 90 s 5 10 o 5 95 s 7 20 o 7 100 s 6
+ + + + 25 o 6 +
5 100 s 6 5 u 3 20 g 3 95 s 6 20 u 7 5 o 4 95 s 7 10 o 5 30 u 6 20 o 8
+ valve + + 15 o 6 + + 10 o 5
5 5 o 4 90 s 6 25 g 1 25 a 7 15 o 6 20 u 7 10 o 5 5 z 3 100 s 8 20 u 7
+ + + + +
5 5 u 6 15 o 7 85 s 5 20 g 3 100 s 8 5 o 4 25 z 8 20 z 6 10 u 5 20 o 7
+ 10 o 7 + + 15 o + 20 o 6 + 20 o 6
6 10 o 6 15 u 7 15 a 7 20 a 7 15 o 6 20 u 7 10 o 4 10 z 6 100 s 8 35 u 7
+ + + + +
Trees Interplanted when Thinning Orchard
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Tre
e d
ia.
(mm
)
Distance to established tree (ft)
Distance to stump
12 ft 48 ft 96 ft
Pollination Requirements
Pecan - pollinators within 150’ of cultivar to be
pollinated.
Prefer 2 protandrous (type 1) and 2 protogynous
(type 2) cultivars.
Self- & cross-pollinated nuts - ‘Western’ female parent
Male parent
Nut
characteristics Western Wichita
Percent
increase
Weight (g) 5.35 6.45 21
Volume (ml) 7.43 8.34 12
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
June July Aug Sept Oct
Percen
t fr
uit
drop
San Saba Imp. Mahan
Self- & cross-pollinated nuts – ‘San Saba Imp.’ female
Shoot & root growth after 2 growing seasons – silty clay loam soil.
1’ 2’ 3’
Tap root
length
(ft)
Cumulative
shoot
growth
(inches)
New
roots/tree
1 149 13
2 102 8
3 113 6
Roots develop from cut surfaces.
New roots, not existing roots, are important for establishment and growth.
Planting Container –
◦ Time to plant ◦ Best: late Sept. & October.
◦ Acceptable: dormant
◦ Least desirable: active growth
◦ Shake most of the media from the roots at planting.
◦ Cut the root where it begins to wrap at the pot bottom.
◦ Plant at the same height or shallower than grown in the pot.
Install Tree Protectors & Mulch
Control Weeds!
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
None Cutleaf
evening
primrose
Palmer
amaranth
CEP + PA
Cu
mu
lati
ve s
hoot
gro
wth
(fe
et)
. .
None CEP + PA
3.5 times more
growth
than CEP + PA
Cumulative shoot growth - (3 growing seasons)
Palmer amaranth
Cutleaf evening
primrose
Size of weed-free circle
Weed-free
diameter
(ft)
Cumulative
yield
age 7-12
(lbs/tree)
0 555
3 1074
6 996
12 1488
24 1545
8th growing
season
Questions?