Fruit Tree Care in the Spring

Now that the days have consistently been reaching 45 degrees, my fruit trees are craving some tender loving care. This weekend I am looking forward to preparing them for the growing season. I will prune, spray, fertilize, and mulch. Let me explain my plan a little better:

1. I am going to remove the mouse guards. Those are those white plastic things that spiral around the lower trunk near the ground. They are great for prevented bark injury during the winter. However, I can't forget to remove them in the spring or I will give the fruit loving pests shelter, especially the dreaded apple borer.

2. I am going to prune the trees into a cone shape. This allows the sunlight to reach more of the tree and therefore allows more photosynthesis to occur. Photosynthesis is the process where the chlorophyll in the leaves become energized by the sun to combine CO2 from the air with water to create sugar. This sugar is the trees food. No cooking or doing dishes for trees. Wouldn't it be great if all we had to do was stand in the sun and voila - we're full!

3. I am also going to spray the tree with dormant oil. You can by this from garden centers easily. I make my own. A long time ago I read an article in a magazine which told how to make dormant oil. Most people have these ingredients on hand so why buy something special. I just mix 1 gallon of water with 1 cup of vegetable oil and 2 tablespoons of liquid hand soap. I will spray all the branches making sure to coat them. This basically suffocates any little pests that decided to make my trees home through the winter. Last fall I noticed some aphids so I am counting on this to get rid of them.

4. I will also give the trees a good fertilizing with compost. You can buy it or create your own. I absolutely love composting. Right now we just have a pile in the back yard, but I am very interested in starting a wormery. There are great little set ups that even have a spigot that can pour out a great worm tea that I just know my plants would enjoy. Ah... maybe this will be a new project.

5. The last thing I need to do is to remulch. I will create a circle with a one yard diameter around each tree. This will discourage the weeds and grass from creeping in. I certainly don't want them getting the benefit of the compost I just added. My trees are greedy - they want it all. And they certainly deserve it; after all, they will provide my family with fresh fruit for many years to come.

Well its definitely going to be a busy weekend. Hope the trees appreciate it. I better get started!