In choosing planting dimensions, it is important to account for space required by fertilizing, cultivating, mowing, and spraying equipment. In reality, the canopies and roots may exceed half the distance by harvest time. Two rows 6 feet apart, trees 4 feet apart down row, 10-foot drive rows. Two rows 6 feet apart, trees 6 feet down row, 10-foot drive rows. Two rows 8 feet apart, trees 8 feet down row, 12-foot drive rows.
Larger nurseries use main or fire break roads for field loading.
Most smaller nurseries will need to load onto tractor-pulled wagons or small trucks to transport plants to the loading area. You need to plan for enough space for transport vehicles and other maintenance equipment. A rule of thumb for determining the minimum distance needed between rows is to add the width of the tractor plus the maximum width required by American Standards for Nursery Stock for that crop. For example, a tractor might be 48 inches wide. The following season, the remaining trees would have additional space to develop caliper and full, well-branched canopies.