Quest for the Perfect Sapling

One of the greatest challenges I have faced in developing my orchard has been sourcing high-quality plants. The local saplings often fall short – they are either unhealthy or simply not the cultivars I am looking for. For those unfamiliar with the term, a cultivar is a cultivated variety of a plant. Even private nurseries located farther away rarely carry collections suited to our specific climate and geography. Finding the right plants has always been a slow, uncertain, and sometimes frustrating process.

Being a warm country with tropical and sub-tropical climates, India makes it far easier to find good mango saplings than plum or cherry saplings. This meant that for many of the fruits I wanted, I had to look much harder, travel further, and experiment more.

My first purchases came from a small nursery in a nearby town. I bought a few apple cultivars grafted onto plants grown from seedlings. The bare-root saplings were small, with weak roots that struggled to take hold. I planted them with hope and care, but many were lost when goats from neighbouring houses found their way inside and nibbled on the tender shoots. I had a barbed wire fence, yet somehow they managed to sneak in, leaving me with the bitter lesson that even a small orchard can face unexpected challenges.I replaced the fence with a sturdy chain-link one.

Determined to do better, I next turned to a couple of private nurseries in Bhimtal. Their selection was limited, and the plants came in soil rather than as bare roots. The saplings were healthier and larger than those I had first purchased. In the same year, I took a leap and acquired some apple plants from a high-tech research centre. These had been propagated using tissue culture and grafted onto dwarfing rootstocks. They were expensive, and I had high hopes for them, but sadly, my orchard soil did not suit their growth. I realised then that a good sapling is fundamental for a thriving orchard, and many places simply do not meet that standard.

Learning from these experiences, I began sourcing trees from distant nurseries in other hill states and even imported some cultivars from Europe. These plants performed better than most, but the nurseries frequently ran out of the specific cultivars I sought, forcing me to adapt and wait. The government’s Horticulture Department also provides saplings from time to time, though they come without labels and with no information about the cultivar. It has been over two years since they promised to supply a greenhouse (polyhouse) I had already paid for, and I plan to follow up again today with yet another call.

Over time, I began to grow many of my own saplings, learning grafting techniques and, at times, using layering. Mastering these skills on my own has been challenging, yet immensely rewarding. Being able to nurture a healthy sapling from the very beginning, watching it grow and thrive, has brought a unique satisfaction. It has also allowed me to experiment with new cultivars and propagation methods, making the orchard more diverse and resilient.

So, to finally answer the question I should have addressed earlier – what is a perfect sapling? For me, it is a sapling of the cultivar I am searching for, with healthy, well-developed roots, standing about two feet tall, and featuring a perfectly healed graft union between the rootstock and scion. Ideally, deciduous fruit trees should be sold bare-root, while plants such as citrus are best purchased with a strong root ball in soil. The price should be reasonable, and it is preferable to source the sapling locally, so I can inspect it in person rather than relying on long-distance mail orders or online purchases. A sapling that is too small risks being lost in the natural ground cover that I maintain, while one that is too large takes longer to adapt, costs more, and often shows no real advantage in growth after a few years compared to a smaller sapling planted at the same time. Ultimately, it comes down to resilience and adaptability, qualities that allow the plant to thrive in its environment.

Looking around now, I marvel at how much the orchard has grown. Apples, pears, plums, and peaches, including nectarines, form the backbone of my fruit trees, accompanied by a few apricots, pomegranates, and an assortment of citrus fruits. Kiwi vines curl gracefully along the trellises, while brambles such as raspberries, blueberries, elderberries, and strawberries flourish underneath the trees. Among the nut trees, there are walnuts, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, and macadamias, alongside numerous mulberries and even a couple of olive trees. Interspersed with these cultivated plants are forest trees – oaks, holly, conifers, acacia, and rhododendrons – that help blend the orchard seamlessly into its natural surroundings.

Even with such diversity, there is always room to grow. I hope to add good cultivars of gooseberries and currants, as well as additional fruit trees such as apricots, pomegranates, and other hardy varieties of fruits that are still not there in my orchard. Focusing on local species helps maintain a healthy ecosystem, while carefully chosen cultivars ensure a varied and high-quality harvest. I have left some spots vacant, patiently waiting for the right plants that will complement the orchard and provide the fresh, vibrant fruits I long to enjoy.

In many ways, the journey of building this orchard has been about learning, experimenting, and adapting. Each sapling planted, each cultivar sourced, and each new technique mastered has taught me something invaluable. What began as a simple dream of growing fruit has become a living, evolving story of resilience, curiosity, and the quiet joy of nurturing life from the soil up.

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