Best orchard orientation on a southern slope.

Goal: Transforming 15 acres of sandy (loam?) agricultural land into a Stefan Sobkowiak style permaculture orchard. I wanted to have alternating rows of production trees, & fast growing or nitrogen fixing trees…the idea being to coppice or pollard one row to mulch the other, more productive row.

Question: Which orientation would be best. With a (slight) southern slope, I’m concerned a traditional north/south orientation will promote erosion, but with an East/West orientation, I’m worried the production tree rows will shade out the shorter coppiced mulch rows. Suggestions?


Additional info. Climate: 8b/9A south Alabama. (High rainfall, hot, humid). Land is on a slight southern slope that ends in a large pond. Previous crop: corn. Currently covered in weeds/evening primrose. Planning to plant tallest trees on the north side (pecans, ginkgo, honey locust, etc) & progress to shorter trees as I move south, ending with blueberries, goumi, etc. I have a good deal of time, but lack any special equipment.

Welcome to the forum!

I am not familiar with a Stefan Sobkowiak style permaculture orchard.  Would you tell me a little more about this type of orchard?

Sounds like you are on the right track.

I feel the orientation would be based on your sun.

My sun comes up in the east and sets in the west.

If I planted the taller trees on the west side then the smaller trees would be shaded.

Planting the taller tree on the north would work better for me.

Thank you! I got the idea here:  https://youtu.be/1HJ3p2mDyIs?feature=shared. Basically, Stefan has rows with a sequence of 2 unrelated production trees & 1 nitrogen fixing tree, forming trios. These are surrounded by shrubs & perennials. It’s like a series of walkable, easy pick strips of food forest.

At your latitude shading in the summer, when you need it the most, will be marginal - unless you plant the tress very densely or they will be very tall. I would rather look at water management. If I had to redo my orchard (also on a gentle south facing slope) I would plant the trees along the contour lines, so every time I run the disc with my tractor I would create mini-swales that would help to retain moisture that I need badly when it's completely dry for 6 months. In your case it can be also helpful to control potential erosion.