Glossary · Orchard
Agroforestry
Definition
Growing trees and agricultural crops or livestock together on the same ground. A grazed standard orchard is one of the oldest European examples, combining fruit, timber and pasture on one field.
- Subject
- Orchard
In more detail
The framing is modern but the practice is not: the clear stem of a standard tree exists precisely so that the ground beneath can be farmed. Contemporary schemes formalise the arrangement, and orchards planted in alleys with arable or vegetable cropping between the rows are a growing variant.
Where this is covered properly
The glossary defines; these pages explain. Each is described in its own words.
Related terms
Terms that belong to the same part of the subject, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Orchard
Standard
A tree grown on a vigorous rootstock with a clear trunk of about 1.8 to 2.1 metres before the first branch, forming a large canopy that can be grazed or mown beneath.
Orchard
Traditional orchard
An orchard of widely spaced standard or half-standard trees on vigorous rootstocks, with a permanent grassland floor that is grazed or mown. In the United Kingdom it is a recognised priority habitat.
Orchard
Orchard floor
The ground layer beneath the trees, and its management: permanent grazed grassland in traditional orchards, mown alleys with herbicide strips in intensive ones.
Culture
Streuobstwiese
A central European traditional orchard: widely spaced standard fruit trees of mixed species and variety scattered over grassland that is grazed or cut for hay.
Where to go next
- Cider glossary — The whole vocabulary, by subject and A–Z.
- Comparisons — Terms that are only really clear when set against the thing they are not.
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Sources
What this page rests on. Where a source is marked as registered rather than read, CiderHQ is recording that the body is authoritative on the subject without claiming to have worked through the document itself. See our evidence policy for what each state means.
Traditional Orchard Habitat Inventory and orchard loss surveys
People’s Trust for Endangered Species / Natural England · specialist organisation · retrieved 2026-08-24
Opened on 2026-08-24. The traditional orchard campaign pages were reached and confirmed, but the orchard-loss figures CiderHQ wants from this body sit in survey outputs rather than on the campaign page, and were not located in this pass.
Teagasc — Agriculture and Food Development Authority
Teagasc · research institute · retrieved 2026-08-24