BYU-Idaho Orchards

We have over 150 different varieties of fruit trees in our Orchard. Some are good for canning, some are good for drying, and some are great for eating straight off the tree. We hope you can find a tasty favorite in our Orchard!

The orchard was planted by the Horticulture Department in 1980 under the direction of Dr. Kim Black and continues to be maintained by faculty and students. The orchard museum contains a large, diverse, collection of trees with rare genetics and unusual characteristics, some of which date back to the 1600’s. Every Season new and exciting changes occur to the orchard. Discover the changes for yourself as you explore this unique collection of historical trees.

Fruit trees are wonderful additions to a landscape and can be grown in rows like a traditional orchard or in restricted forms like an espalier garden. Some of the most glorious structures in a garden are the free standing fences or screens created by espaliered fruit trees with their plump, ripe fruit visible in attractive forms.

Restricted Tree Forms

Growing fruit trees in a restricted form is a time-honored gardening practice dating back thousands of years from the gardens of pharaohs in Egypt to great monastic gardens and castles carefully trained by monks. Restricted form trees gained wide spread popularity in England and France in the 1600s appearing in humble villages as well as the walls of the Palace of Versailles. In colonial America espaliered fruit trees were grown by George Washington at Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson in Monticello. Restricted tree forms are preserved and enjoyed as beautiful art forms in the home gardens and in grand gardens around the world.

There are several choices when creating a restricted form fruit tree:
Espalier: A tree is trained to grow against a wall or independently in a two dimensional shape with multiple tiers. A tier is a level at which two horizontal branches are allowed to grow.
Cordon: Training fruit to grow along a single trunk with no side branches, many times planted at 45° to enhance fruit production. A Belgium fence is an example of multiple cordons being grown together to form a living fence.
Fan shape: A single trunk is trained with branches radiating out in a two dimensional fan pattern. These trees can be grown against a wall or trellis.

Yield of Apples & Pears

Pruning fruit trees in restricted forms produces superior fruit because they receive optimal sun and air circulation, which helps control pest problems, and their compact form can be grown in protected areas, such as along walls where they are kept from frosts and severe weather. They bring versatility and add ornamental beauty to small and large spaces and also produce flowers and fruits more abundantly per square foot than a traditional tree. Pears and apples can be grown in all three traditional shapes, but plants like peaches and cherries do best in fan shapes. At the east of the orchard in the Espalier Orchard Garden you can see demonstrations of these restricted forms.

Tree Training & Shaping

Additionally you can train fruit trees into various shapes and forms called topiary. Topiaries are a creative way to make fun and varied landscapes. Trees are shaped into circles, squares and triangles through pruning practices. Trees can also be trained into trellises to create an entrance into a garden or replicated to create tunnels and living gazebos. All of these forms are demonstrated throughout the Apple Orchard Museum, Annual Trial Beds, and Espalier Orchard Garden.