First-Of-Its-Kind Apple Tree Maze

First-Of-Its-Kind Apple Tree Maze FARM HOME recreation In 2015 the most unique farm maze in the country will open in Illinois Royal Oak Farm’s apple-shaped maze was planted in 2012 and consists of 3 000 trees planted on about 4 1/2 acres “We’ll have 9 varieties of apples in the maze ” says Dennis Norton Royal Oak Farm Orchard “People will be able to wander through and pick the apples that are ripe at different times of the harvest season ” Norton credits his father-in-law Peter Bianchini founder of the orchard with the idea for a maze They turned to Maze Play a maze design company for a plan www mazeplay com They received a computer printout with GPS coordinates for each tree and began planting Trickle irrigation lines and landscape fabric for weed control were also laid out “The trees are being trained espalier fashion to grow on a set of wires ” says Norton “When fully grown the maze walls will be 7 ft tall and 2 to 2 1/2 ft thick There are four wires strung at 1 1/2 ft intervals on 456 posts Trees are spaced 3 ft apart and alleys are 8 to 12 ft wide ” From the air it will look like a Red Delicious apple with leaves at the stem Each variety is planted in several areas ensuring plenty of apples for visitors The alleys are planted to a grass mix bred for heavy traffic This is vital as the farm’s U-pick operation attracts 4 000 to 5 000 people per weekend from mid-August through October After the maze opens they expect even more traffic Before the first tree was planted a system of pipes was laid in the new orchard area to deliver pesticides The Solid Set Spray Delivery System was developed by Trickl-eez Irrigation St Joseph Mich It is being evaluated by Washington State University Cornell University and Michigan State University The maze is broken into two zones each with its own manifold Each manifold is connected to 8 risers spread throughout the maze They in turn connect to waterlines that run up and across the top wire of the trellis above the tree height Emitters on the line will spray down over and inside the tree canopy The maze will require lots of hand pruning to keep the dense compact shape Workers have practiced on a demonstration apple tree hedgerow planted earlier Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Royal Oak Farm Orchard 
15908 Hebron Rd 
Harvard Ill 60033 ph 815 648-4141; service@royaloakfarmorchard com; www royaloakfarmorchard com

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