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Planting Trees

How to plant new fruit trees and how to prune them.

Spread a little compost on top and a handful of full spectrum mineral fertiliser plus a handful of gypsum if you are on clay. Don’t use sheep pellets or blood and bone. We want something sturdy and fruitful, not insanely vigorous and leafy.

Water gently to further settle any air pockets around the roots, so the soil is barely moist, not soggy, then lay cardboard on top of the compost, grass around the base of the tree and spread a mixed woody mulch on top.

A plant label is another stranglehold moment if left wrapped about the trunk. Whip it o and attach it to the stake or tie until you sketch it onto your plan. What? No plan?! A rough sketch with names and rootstocks is very useful and a five-minute job. Painted rocks or stakes are cool but do fade and need redoing. As for that box with all your plant labels from 1987 onwards...

Evergrow bags

These clever, New Zealand designed and made bags make productive fruit trees a reality for small gardens. Restricted root growth makes for smaller tops, channelling the energy into flowers and fruits and producing more fruit relative to size than their free-range cousins.

The bags can be buried if your soil is free draining, otherwise they work well sitting on top, making them great for heavy clay soils. They’ve been designed with drainage in mind, for water to pass slowly, evenly through.

And there’s no need to repot – the special fabric of the bags results in natural root pruning, not root bound plants.

Use medium to large rootstocks for stronger trees. Espalier, standard or other training are all still possible.

Cherries, figs and other potential giants become reachable, and bird-susceptible fruit can easily be covered. Renters get a look-in too, when fruit trees are mobile, and small garden owners can stretch out beyond dwarf rootstocks into heritage fruit trees.

Protection from the cold

A peach, a pear, a plum don’t bat an eye at cold weather: with no foliage on board they breeze through. Not everyone handles the cold gracefully though.

Citrus, passionfruit, tamarillo, avocado – the young ones do it tough in my cool mountain zone.

To keep them ticking along happily I make them a frost-proof shelter for the first three to four winters, something to soften the blow of that deadly combo of freezing air and freezing soil. The plant variety plays a big part, so if your garden gets frosty be sure to choose citrus suited to cooler climes.

The most basic shelter is a suntrap, an insulating wall on the cold south side to block chilly draughts and capture the sun when it shines in.

Use straw bales, old windows, bubble wrap, or plant on the north side of a building for reflected heat. Create a lid from a bit of plastic and bingo! You’ve got shelter.

Sturdy is important, so that your shelter handles both wind and rain. Go the full nine yards with a shelter made from purpose-made frost cloth. Bang four stakes in to create a frame around the tree, leaving loads of room for growth. From this one mission comes three winters’ worth of protection. Tie frost cloth on when frost is likely at your place. Cover the top and all four sides, leaving a small air gap at the bottom. Take it o when frosts are over in late spring.

Good companions for fruit trees

Plant up the space beneath your fruit trees with dynamic accumulator herbs like comfrey, yarrow, borage and cow parsley to mine minerals and open and build soil and save you the annual job of mulching.

Add high-nectar and pollen-rich flowers to encourage pollinators in to work the blossom and predator insects to manage pests. Pumpkins, potatoes, rhubarb and leafy greens also do well in this space, taking the pressure o space in the vegetable patch.

Thin fruit

Thinning fruit makes an enormous di erence to the health of your trees and the quality of your crops. Removing excess fruit from an overburdened tree rewards you with a more robust tree and better fruit (this year and next).

From mid spring on, probably around November, keep an eye on your fruit trees and thin the heavily loaded ones as fruits reach marble size.

Because steady is good

Thinning is removing extras to improve the remainder. And it keeps your tree’s equilibrium steady. When you thin out the load, it distributes the tree’s energy evenly over the years. Did you know that at the same time your tree is growing fruits for this year, it’s also putting energy into spur development? That’s next year’s fruits. So, if you stress your tree out this year, there’s gonna be less in the pot for next year.

There are of course exceptions to this rule. Some fruit trees carry a mother load year after year without skipping a beat – many plums are like this. Some fruit trees, such as ‘Tydemans Late’ apple, are natural biennial bearers – heavy load followed by a light load. So, feel free to follow your gut here. Don’t thin, or thin very lightly. Follow up with regular visits to watch what unfolds.

How to thin

Thin fruit when it’s marble size. Drop it on the ground, returning it to the tree. Work your way systematically branch by branch. Use secateurs to cut pipfruits, and your thumb and finger to twist stonefruits. Pulling is disastrous! You’ll end up taking the whole spur o .

Remove deformed or stunted fruits, leaving the biggest and best to grow on.

Young trees and struggling trees will feel deep gratitude if you remove all of their crop.

Renters get a look-in too, when fruit trees are mobile and small garden owners can stretch out beyond dwarf rootstocks into heritage fruit trees.”

PRUNING YOUR NEWLY PLANTED FRUIT TREE

Pruning new deciduous fruit trees can be scary but, if you want small manageable trees, this first cut, when newly planted, is the most important.

Cut your tree at hip height or about 1m, above a bud. Gasp! I know you’ll find this hard, but this simple cut will create all the things you want – reachable fruit and a compact, easy to manage tree. So be brave.

The thing that scares you is that this is the end, but it’s not, it’s the beginning. The first sca old of branches and the leader will spring from this point for a nice low centre of gravity.

Keep well-placed branches (feathers) or remove them. My preference is to remove them. The new ones that grow will all be of the same age and have good balance.

PRUNING

When you prune, you get the very best out of your fruit trees. It’s as simple as that.

Pruning can be scary, but it is a learned skill like any other and anyone can do it. With practice and observation, know that the confusion will fade.

The trees are your best teachers. The real learning comes as you watch them grow and respond to your cuts and training. For more on this process, check out my book Pruning Fruit Trees: A Beginner’s Guide.

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2023-05-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://good.pressreader.com/article/282376928902637

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