How to Set Up a Tree Farm in Stardew Valley

When you first start a new game of Stardew Valley, your farm will be covered in debris, wild trees, and grass. The first job of every player is to clear enough of the ground in order to start planting your first crops.

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However, some of these wild plants aren’t just an obstacle; they’re an opportunity. Farm animals are happiest when they get to feed on wild grass, and debris provides useful materials like stone, coal, wood, and fiber. The trees are also valuable: You can get special materials by tapping them, and if you can control where the trees grow, you won’t have to cross all of Stardew Valley to gather them.

Updated May 10, 2025, by Artur Novichenko: Stardew Valley gives players the opportunity to grow not only different crops but also trees. Some can give you fruits, while others are more suitable for creating a beautiful forest. To make the most of trees in Stardew Valley, you will have to learn quite a lot about them, as each tree can have its own characteristics of growth and planting. As such, here’s a detailed rundown on what you need to know about growing trees on your farm.

Things to Know About Common Trees in Stardew Valley

The first thing to understand about starting a tree farm in Stardew Valley is that trees follow a specific set of rules in the farm region. Outside the farm, choppable trees always regrow in the same spots every time, but in the farm region, they’re more dynamic.

• No tree can grow to its full height if it’s directly adjacent to a fully grown tree. This includes the diagonal squares. Trees can grow up to the sapling stage when adjacent to a fully grown tree, but they’ll never grow any taller until you chop down the adult tree.
• Trees can grow to their full height when adjacent to a stump.
• Fully grown trees and stumps have a chance to drop a tree seed into a square up to 3 spaces away. This check takes place overnight on every single night, including during winter. If something is in the randomly chosen square already, the seed won’t appear.

• You can use an axe, pickaxe, or hoe to dig most types of tree seed out of the ground. You can then replant it wherever you like, save it, or drop it into a shipping crate for a small profit. The exception is a
  Mushroom Tree Seed

  , which you destroy when you try to dig one up. The only way to get Mushroom Tree Seeds is to buy them from Qi’s Walnut Room.

• Every night in spring, summer, and fall, each tree has a random chance to grow. Counting the seed stage and the fully grown tree stage, every common tree has five stages of development.
• Tree Seeds don’t count as obstacles that block your movement, but every development stage after that does.
• When you chop down a fully grown tree, it drops between zero and two seeds. You can also sometimes get a third seed, since fully grown trees have a low chance of dropping a seed when you shake them. However, Mahogany Trees have a much lower chance of producing two seeds, and mushroom trees never drop seeds when you cut them down.

• Oak, Maple, and Pine Trees all drop the same amounts of wood and
  Sap

  when you chop them down. Mahogany Trees only drop
  Hardwood

  , and Mushroom Trees drop
  Red Mushroom

  and
  Purple Mushroom

  .

• Trees such as Maple Trees, Pine Trees, Oak Trees, and Green Rain Trees, excluding the vine-shaped ones, can grow
  Moss

  in any season apart from winter. To collect it, you just need to use tools, not cut down trees.

• Each tree type produces something different when you attach a tapper.

  • Maple trees produce
    Maple Syrup

    every 9 days.

  • Oak trees produce
    Oak Resin

    every 7 days.

  • Pine trees produce
    Pine Tar

    every 5 days.

  • Mahogany trees produce 1-3 Sap every day.

  • Mushroom trees produce
    Common Mushroom

    , Red Mushroom, and Purple Mushroom every other day in spring and summer, every day in fall, and never in winter.

• Heavy tappers cut the waiting time down to 4 days for Maple Syrup, 3 for Oak Resin, and 2 for Pine Tar. They do not affect Mahogany and Mushroom Trees.

• Green Rain Trees, which spawn during Green Rain events, unlike others, can have three different types. Despite this, they drop
  Mossy Seed

  when shaken. Players can also get Seeds, Sap, Wood, and Moss from them when chopped.

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The Best Layout For a Tree Farm in Stardew Valley

• Plant your tree seeds one space apart. This will let each one grow to its full height, and it’ll let you walk between them all without issue.
• Fill the squares between each tree with floor or path tiles. Any type will work. This will prevent random seeds from landing in the gaps and growing into an obstacle, and it’ll stop debris or grass from appearing in the middle of your tree farm.
• As a side benefit, each floor tile counts as a target during a lightning storm. A floor tile struck by lightning will come loose and pop into your inventory when you approach it, so be sure to replace it when this happens.
• Wait for four or more trees of the same species to reach full size before you chop them down. This will increase the chance of you getting enough seeds to replace them without having to go out and forage.
• You should set some of the trees aside to use for tapping. Tapped trees are just as good at dropping seeds as untapped trees and stumps. As such, you may want to place your tappers on the trees in the middle of your tree farm. This will give them the best chance to drop seeds into unoccupied squares.
• You don’t need to separate your tree farm by species, but doing so can help you keep track of which trees you need to plant more of.
• If you need more Mahogany Seeds, the stumps and slimes in the Secret Woods sometimes drop them, and several Mahogany Trees grow on Ginger Island.

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How to Plant an Orchard in Stardew Valley

Fruit trees in Stardew Valley play by different rules compared to common trees.

• All eight spaces adjacent to a fruit tree must be empty of everything. This includes debris, grass, floor tiles, the edges of the farm area, fences, and most buildings. However, you can plant them next to the farmhouse or your pet’s water bowl.
• If you place something next to a fruit tree, or if grass or debris appears, the tree will stop growing. However, a fully grown fruit tree will keep producing fruit even if flooring, grass, or debris appears beneath it.
• The empty adjacent spaces can’t overlap with those of other fruit trees. This means that each tree occupies its own 3×3 grid on the farm map.
• All eight spaces adjacent to a fruit tree must be empty of everything. This includes debris, floor tiles, the edges of the farm area, fences, and most buildings. The exceptions are Seed Spots and grass, which do not interfere with the growth of fruit seedlings. Also, you can plant them next to the farmhouse or your pet’s water bowl.
• If you place something next to a fruit tree, or if debris appears, the tree will stop growing. However, a fully grown fruit tree will keep producing fruit even if flooring or debris appears beneath it.
• Fruit trees can only grow from saplings. This means that you have to buy them from Pierre and the Island Trader or get them from random drops. You can’t even try to put orchard fruit in a Seed Maker.
• Another way to get a sapling in Stardew Valley is to cut down a Fruit Tree. In addition, the quality of the sapling will correspond to the fruit. To mature them faster, you will want to replant them at higher qualities.
• Unlike Common Tree Seeds, you can’t dig up a Fruit Tree sapling. The only way to move an orchard is to chop down the old trees (which at least provide some wood) and buy a new set of saplings.
• A Fruit Tree requires 28 days to fully grow. Like Common Trees, Fruit Trees don’t need fertilizer, tilled soil, or water. Fruit Trees can grow during any season, including winter, so the best time to plant them is two seasons before their fruiting season. For instance, you should plant Cherry Trees in fall, Orange Trees in winter, Apple Trees in spring, and so on.
• Every Fruit Tree produces one fruit per day during its fruiting season. Each tree can hold up to three fruits at once, so you only need to check your orchard every third day. If you wait any longer, you’ll lose out on that day’s fruit.
• The quality of the fruit depends on the age of the tree. During its first year, the fruits are regular quality. During the second season, they’re silver. The third is gold, and the fourth and beyond are iridium quality. Fruit Trees measure their age from the first day they reach maturity.
• While you find Tropical Trees on Ginger Island, you can plant any tree type on the Ginger Island farm. Fruit Trees on Ginger Island and in the greenhouse produce fruit all year-round.

Stardew Valley

Released

February 26, 2016

ESRB

E for Everyone (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Simulated Gambling, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco)

Developer(s)

ConcernedApe

Publisher(s)

ConcernedApe

Engine

Proprietary