Orchard Floor Management: An Overview

One of the authors (Skroch) has been asking himself since the early years of a long-term study initiated in 1966 (77) “What is a weed to a tree?” Apple trees in the mowed grass check plots grew less than in plots with woody vines. In another test comparing mowed sod, contact herbicide, and residual plus contact herbicide, trees having an herbicide program yielded 400 bushels/acre more fruit in the 5th year than those without. Apples in another orchard were of higher grade in plots with over 50% trailing blackberry ( Rubus sp.) and poison ivy ( Rhus radicans L.) ground covers than those from an area with a mowed-lawn appearance. The practice of frequent mowing, which increased grass covers in the 1960s, may have been a factor in the small fruit problem of the 1970s.