High-Density Orchard (Home Orchard Demo Garden)

Originally planted in the mid-90’s, the Prusch High Density Orchard provides a public demonstration of pomme fruit gardening, showing local gardeners how to maintain reasonably sized trees, and how several varieties can be grown in a small garden space.

Located in San Jose at the intersection of highways 280 and 101, the entrance to Emma Prusch Park is on South King Road. To visit the orchard, make an immediate left after entering the park.

Home Orchard Advice

If you're planning for yourself, here are some things to keep in mind. For more information, visit the California Backyard Orchard website.

Tree Selection

The most important factors in selecting varieties for growing at home are your personal preference for type and taste, and the ripening time for the varieties you select. Even keeping your trees small, you can get a lot of fruit from a single tree. With a little planning, you can choose varieties that bear fruit over a longer period of time, thus maximizing the length of your fruit season.

There are other factors to consider, including the amount of winter chill a variety needs in order to bear fruit. For more information on chill hours, visit the California Home Orchard tree selection page.

Planting options

Don't have much space? You don't need much to get started. Some options you might want to consider include:

  • Multiple trees in one hole. Plant two, three or four trees in a single hole to get different kinds of fruit in the same location. Keep the trunks about 18" apart when planting.
  • Hedgerow: you can plant a row of trees 3' apart in a long narrow space.
  • Espalier: for even narrower locations, such as up against a house or fence, you can train a tree into an espalier shape (best for apples and pears).
  • Container: if you don't have any planting space, but room on a patio or deck, you might consider planting in a container. The biggest challenge is keeping the tree watered during hot summer days.

Pruning

Keeping your trees small is the most important part of a successful backyard orchard. The goal is to maintain the height of the tree low enough that you don't need a ladder for pruning or picking fruit. Requiring a little more maintenance, it's much easier to care for your trees, and since you won't need a ladder, it's generally safer as well. Other things to keep in mind:

  • Promote scaffold branches close to the ground (12-18"). The most important time for this is when planting; head a tree 18-24" high to get it started right.
  • Open the interior of the tree to allow air and light to penetrate, the air helps promote good health, and light is needed for fruit to set and mature.
  • Summer pruning is recommend for controlling tree size. Cut new growth by half in mid-spring and again in summer. Winter pruning is best for shaping the tree because you can easily see all the branches, but it tends to result in strong growth in the spring, so do this sparingly.

About the Prusch Demonstration Orchard

The orchard consists of 85 trees consisting of 57 known varieties (some trees are unmarked). Types of trees are primarily apple (almost 70%), pear, and quince.

The Master Gardeners maintain the orchard, with responsibilities including pruning, weeding, mulching, etc. Work continues year round, with seasonal bursts of activity: winter and summer pruning, building water basins at the start of summer, mulching when needed.

Spring and summer work

  • Fire blight patrol: weekly rounds to identify and eliminate fire blight.
  • Summer pruning. It’s a constant battle to keep the trees at a reasonable height, this work begins no later than July.
  • Irrigation: keeping the trees hydrated during the warmer months.

Fall and winter work

  • Dormant season pruning: the best time to shape the tree because you can see the entire structure.

Year round

  • Preventing weeds from gaining the upper hand.
  • Talking to interested park visitors — yes, that means you, please stop by some time!

The Orchard in Photos

Late December and the apples stubbornly hold on to their leaves.

Pear branches in front of an apple during pruning season.

Apple blossom close-up.

More apple blossoms, with a visitor this time!

Pear blossoms in early March, they start as early as late January.

A pair of quince blossoms in early April.

Pear leaves showing blister mite damage.

Bacterial blast on an apple .

A knotty protrusion on an apple, with fire blight.

Fire blight on pear. This disease can be devastating for the trees.

A warm summer day with the jacaranda blooming over the apples.

Every season requires weeding, here we're cleaning up the border of the orchard.

Warm weather means the trees need water. Here we're filling a basin around a quince

Mid-summer apples in need of some thinning.

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