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Determining the Number of Trees Per Acre (TPA) in Bed Plantings

As discussed above, bed systems can be used in many forms in commercial orchards. Beds in the Dutch system have very closely spaced trees with a vegetation-free area. The concept proposed above allows for herbicide strips directly underneath the tree rows within the bed and grassed drive rows between the bed tree rows and the wider drive rows. In either case, it is necessary to alter the traditional method of determining the TPA for bed systems. The following can be used to determine the TPA in a bed planting:  

1. Measure the distance from the trunk of the edge tree in one bed to the trunk of the tree in a similar position in the adjacent bed.

2. Divide this distance by the number of rows in the bed to get the average row spacing.

3. Multiply the average row spacing by the distance between trees in a row to get the square feet occupied by one tree.

4. Divide 43,560 square feet (1 acre) by the square feet occupied by one tree (from Step 3). This gives the TPA in the bed system you have designed. Example: From the diagrams in Figure 1-4, the TPA is determined as follows: