I plan to establish an espaliered orchard along the west side of my field. I want to have a few apples, pears, peaches, and possibly plucots. I live in the Nehalem river valley and the area I want to use will have full sun all day long. Should my rows run north to south as my commercial greenhouse does or shoud they be planted east and west, or should I angle them?
As for the support poles, can I use alder, or fir poles (as in small trees that have blown down) that are 4-6" in diameter, or do I need to use the redwood poles I have seen elsewhere?
I have found a source for inexpensive coated wire (used to run shade cloth at a gensing farm), but will it hold up over time, or will the coating crack off and weaken the wire?
Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated as I am getting ready to start turning soil to prepare the area now.
BTW, anyone with suggestions for specific varieties that have done well for them in our area is appreciated.
…first, are you fenced for Deer? If not, ‘that’ would be my first project… Or, plan on individual trees, like me … individually caged from the get-go.
I believe we lost a longtime and innovative HOS member living somewhere off HWY 22, closer to the Coast than Salem… I hunted him up once, but nobody was home. We need more input from the Oregon Coast, though with various pockets of differing microclimates… it may be difficult to expect much consistency between cultivars.
I can’t help but notice every fruit tree I see on my way to, at, and along ‘the Beach.’ I lost an old acquaintance who was pushing the limits on an inland bay north of Pacific City ten years ago … too many folks wait too late in life to plant their dream orchards…
Apples and pears should do fine, with your description of sun exposure; but peaches, especially espaliered (tweaked beyond their natural growth habit), will likely give you problems. I’ve no personal experience with ‘Pluots’ (or various Apricot / Asian plum blends) though I’d love to have two or three thriving 
…you may want to substitute European plums for one of those two.
Espaliered trees I’ve seen are mostly run north-south, with sun hitting and drying both sides.
Don’t mess with Alder or Fir poles. Unless the Douglas fir are pressure treated, they’ll last about 4 years, likely the same with Alder. Cedar or Redwood would be better, but may eventually need replacing, too. I’ve seen people use scrap metal, like ‘cut up’ pieces of car frames … though extremely ugly, rust takes a lot longer than rot. I think the new (and higher-priced) pressure-treated timbers are less toxic than their predecessors.
I can’t advise you on that wire, but I’ve used the best I could afford on my many trellises; # 12 galvanized comes to mind… but I did buy a (lifetime) roll at a good price from an old friend.
Good questions, and welcome.
yeah, deer and elk, moles, racoons.....I had already planned on deer fencing with reinforcement at the base for all of my outside garden areas. The fact that I am able to plan out my garden plots, and not have to work with someone else's leftovers is the best part. That is also why I want to get it right the first time. I am trying to work smarter, by asking for advise from folks that have done it, than harder.
Thanks for the info.
peg
Some types of apple rootstocks will need to be staked for the life of the tree, they are usually the mini kinds. Apples on full size roots like M111, Antonovka, and seedling will not need much for staking, if at all. I think M26 can be grown without staking past its early years, depending on wind conditions. Same probably goes for mini-pears vs full sized pears.
If your climate is ANYTHING like Willamette Valley climate, then you will find apricots and peaches to be a bust. I'd also avoid anything with pluots and apriums in the name. They really don't seem that productive year on year, plus the apricot pedigree is a liability disease-wise, in most of wet Oregon.
Certain kinds of grapes do pretty well, so you might look into those too. Home dried raisins are a treat. Juice and wine are good too. Not to mention fresh eating. Some folks like eating them frozen too.
How many inches of rain do you get every winter?
Some kinds of figs are dependable too. Desert King and Kadota are two of them. Rabbits will browse lower twigs when the weather is really cold, but overall not much damage from rabbits, ymmv.
I have never had a deer munch on many fig trees. Seems to be off their menu. None of mine are deer protected. Cannot say weather elk would leave them alone though. Gophers sure like the roots.
We've been eating home-dried figs for around a decade, there are always too many to eat fresh in August. We use them all winter. They are a valuable part of the diet.
Possible source for pressure treated posts and 9G wire is the Salem area Craigslist; someone on the Silverton area has posted several times. They removed several acres of berry fields which had only been in the ground a couple of years, and have hundreds of pressure treated posts (likely just a bit too short for your uses!) and many thousands of feet of 9G galvanized wire - wish I'd known about it in time when I was fencing 14 acres several months ago!
Dave
thanks for the lead on the posts & wire! I will check on that next.
I did figure on trying to use M26 rootstocks. I will be planting under power lines, so I want to keep to no larger than a semi-dwarf. I'm not that young, and don't want my kids to let my work go to h... when I can't climb a ladder any longer!
We have a funny micro-climate here, not quite as warm as the Will. valley, but not as wet and windy as Astoria. We're in what Sunset would consider a zone 5.5. Not as cool as a zone 5, but not as dry in winter as a zone 6.
Thanks for the advice against peaches and apricots, but I may still try for a couple, just because I LOVE them. There is a farm in Banks (just 30 miles from here) that does well with them, so I have hope.
As a farmer/gardener we have to have hope right?
peg
Re: Direction of Planting Rows
At the home show in Puyallup this weekend Ed Hume said to plant the rows north and south so each row doesn't shade the other. He also said the rows should be in line with the prevailing winds to provide better circulation to dry off foliage.
My opinion is if you plant your rows north and south your plants are shading EACH OTHER IN THE ROW and the ROW SPACINGS get lots of sun to promote WEED GROWTH. It's better to plant your taller trees (or vegetables) on the north side of the orchard (garden) and shorter varieties on the south side with rows running east and west. Then the row gets maximum sunlight and casts shadow on the row spacing to suppress weed growth.
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