Healthy Soil For a Healthy Environment

Guadalupe River Park and Gardens Historic Orchard, San Jose

The Historic Orchard at Guadalupe River Park and Gardens in San Jose is essentially a living museum of fruit orchards that defined the valley for many decades. Long before this was Silicon Valley, it was the Valley of Heart's Delight and fruit was the major industry. Fruit remained the main industry through the 1940's.

There are more than 250 fruit trees in the Orchard, with the majority being apricot, cherry and prune. The Historic Orchard, like the Heritage Rose Garden right next door, is maintained by a group of dedicated volunteers in conjunction with the Friends of Guadalupe River Park and Gardens. Consider stopping by on a Wednesday or Saturday morning and offering a hand.

The Historic Orchard is located directly across the walking path from the Heritage Rose Garden between Coleman Ave and W Taylor St.

Due to the size of the Orchard (3+ acres), the amount of material required and coordination required, the main work in restoring the soil condidtion, didn't begin until November of 2008.

Over 800 cubic yards of mulch material was delivered into the Orchard. One small section in the northwest corner was left unmulched to show the difference betweent the mulched and unmulched areas. The unmulched area will be mulched over the summer of 2009.