] The most extensive orchards in the United States are apple and orange orchards, although citrus orchards are more commonly called
groves. The most extensive apple orchard area is in eastern
Washington state, with a lesser but significant apple orchard area in most of
Upstate New York. Extensive orange orchards are found in
Florida and southern
California. In eastern
North America, many orchards are along the shores of
Lake Michigan (such as the
Fruit Ridge Region),
Lake Erie, and
Lake Ontario. In
Canada, apple and other fruit orchards are widespread on the
Niagara Peninsula, south of Lake Ontario. This region is known as
Canada Fruitbelt and, in addition to large-scale commercial fruit marketing, it encourages "pick-your-own" activities in the harvest season. In
Spain,
Murcia is a major orchard area (or la huerta) in Europe, with citrus crops. New Zealand, China, Argentina, and Chile also have extensive apple orchards.
Tenbury Wells in
Worcestershire has been called
The Town in the Orchard, since the 19th century, because it was surrounded by extensive orchards. Today, this heritage is celebrated through an annual
Applefest.
Central Europe Streuobstwiese (pl. ) is a German word that means a meadow with scattered fruit trees or fruit trees that are planted in a field. , or a meadow orchard, is a traditional landscape in the temperate, maritime climate of continental Western Europe. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, were a kind of a rural
community orchard that were intended for the productive cultivation of
stone fruit. In recent years, ecologists have successfully lobbied for state subsidies to valuable
habitats,
biodiversity and
natural landscapes, which are also used to preserve old meadow orchards. Both conventional and meadow orchards provide a suitable habitat for many animal species that live in a cultured landscape. A notable example is the
hoopoe that nests in tree hollows of old fruit trees and, in the absence of alternative nesting sites, is threatened in many parts of
Europe because of the destruction of old orchards. File:Lemon Orchard in the Galilee by David Shankbone.jpg|A
lemon orchard in the
Upper Galilee in
Israel File:Orchard3.jpg|A
community apple orchard originally planted for productive use during the 1920s, in
Westcliff on Sea (
Essex, England) File:Tuebingen Streuobstwiese.jpg|
Streuobstwiese, a rural community orchard, traditionally for productive use. Today endorsed for its quality of habitat and biodiversity. File:Azwell WA.jpg|Apple orchards in
Azwell, Washington, surrounding a community of
pickers' cabins File:Sour cherry 3428.JPG|Sour
cherry orchard on
Lake Erie shoreline (
Leamington, Ontario) File:AppleOrchard.jpg|Old growth apple orchard in Ottawa, Canada ==Historical orchards==