The California climate is perfect for growing a variety of trees and plants in your home landscape. The scents, the colors and the beauty reflect the personality of a home, even a neighborhood as cities and developers often work in concert to cultivate a tree canopy plan that meets not only aesthetic needs but environmental needs as well.
Trees in your landscape or corporate campus are often the anchors of your overall landscape or the gems in your backyard sanctuary. Their care is critical to their own health and the overall look and feel of your landscape footprint or home orchard.
Whether you’re a novice or a bit seasoned, it’s critical that new tree plantings start with a quality tree and expert advice. Fruit trees, popular in many California neighborhoods, need full sun to thrive.
If poor drainage is a serious problem, plant your trees in raised beds.
Fruit trees may survive with minimal care but will not perform optimally, but paying attention to the plant needs may reward you with a larger, more flavorful crop. To promote success, Ned Patchett Consulting suggests tree owners pay attention to the following key preventive measures:
Maintenance schedule
Be sure and put a properly executed schedule for maintenance and care of fruit trees and their growing environment into place.
- Keeping a growing site free of debris and weeds will reduce the risk of disease infestations.
- Conducting a frequent visual inspection of your fruit trees will help you notice anything unusual or out of place.
Proper Pruning
The key to keeping fruit trees attractive and productive is annual pruning.
- It’s best to prune trees in the winter months when trees are not in bloom. It’s easier to see the branches without the tree’s foliage.
- Clean up dead and damaged wood, sprouts growing from the trunk base and/or tree branches.
- Ensure that proper cuts are made to a larger limb they are growing from. Do not leave stubs.
- Thinning allows light and air into the canopy.
- Cutting back about 20 percent of last year’s growth will keep your tree’s branches shorter and thicker and less likely to snap off from the weight of the fruit.
Tree Fertilization – When?
It’s best to base your fertilizing schedule on the growth of the trees. If your trees seem to be growing well, then it’s fertilizing needs are being met. However, if growth or fruit production is underwhelming fertilization might be necessary. Poor growth may indicate that your soil is deficient in nutrients. If this is the case consider having a professional soil test done. Ned Patchett Consulting recommends only using organic fertilizers on fruit trees.
Tree Treatments – Pest and Disease
As you’d expect, a number of pests and diseases can affect fruit trees.
- Neem oil is non-toxic and can help manage insects, pests and diseases during the growing season. It can also be used as a dormant spray for over-wintering
With deciduous fruit trees, a non-toxic dormant oil spray applied during winter months prevents a number of pest problems. Oils smother the pests as well as any over-wintering eggs.
Watering
Most people make the mistake of applying too little or too much water to trees. With a little practice, you’ll develop a keen eye for when and how much to water.
- Water newly planted trees whenever the top two inches of soil are dry.
- As plants develop deeper root zones, watering is required less often,
- To produce juicy fruit all fruit trees must have supplemental irrigation during the growing season
- Mulching helps conserve moisture and controls weed growth
Investing in your trees will bring you years of enjoyment and landscape beauty. Practice makes perfect, but professional arbor care may be required in circumstances beyond your control. Ned Patchett Consulting is here to help. No question is too small.
Are you looking for an innovative tree service and landscape design and maintenance company that will uniquely and passionately create and care for your trees and yard like they were their own?
Let the experienced professionals at Ned Patchett Consulting deliver for you. Connect with us at info@nedpatchettconsulting.com or 650-728-8308 or more detailed information on identifying and controlling fruit tree pests and diseases, consult a local nursery.
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