Fruit trees can add beautiful accents to your garden while providing delicious fruits for your family. However, these trees require springtime maintenance to ensure they remain healthy, receive proper nutrients, and continue to bear fruit during their season.
Adding fruit tree maintenance to your spring checklist will keep your fruit trees healthy and safe from disease and pests. The following simple steps can significantly improve the quality of the tree’s fruit and keep it productive throughout its natural lifespan.
Pruning Branches
Pruning fruit trees ranks as one of the top tasks to ensure the tree’s health and longevity. Pruning removes old, dead, or diseased wood, promoting growth and healthier fruit. In spring, focus your pruning on shaping the tree to produce and support an optimal amount of fruit.
Thin out branches that have become crowded, and use clean, sharp pruning tools. You may need to research pruning techniques for your specific fruit tree. Make your spring pruning a priority, as trees become weak and more susceptible to disease without regular pruning.
Fertilize Your Trees
Give your fruit trees proper nutrition in the spring, and you will receive a bountiful fruit harvest. Fruit trees put all their energy and nutrients into producing fruit. Adding fertilizer, using recommended amounts, can support healthy, vigorous growth and plentiful fruit.
It’s essential to use a balanced fertilizer that contains macronutrients such as nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. You can harm the tree and pollute the environment by using too much fertilizer, so take time to read the package directions and give your trees just the amount they require.
Controlling Pests
Nothing’s worse than grabbing a gorgeous piece of fruit off the tree and finding that it has a big insect hole on the other side. Pests can cause significant problems, especially while the tree’s fruit grows and matures. Monitor your trees and take preventive measures to prevent any infestations.
Be on the lookout for mites, aphids, caterpillars, and other voracious pests. You can use several ways to control pests, including insecticidal soap and adding natural predators to your garden. Look for pest-control methods that are safe for the environment, and choose the type of product or method that suits your kind of fruit tree.
Proper Irrigation
Fruit trees need constant moisture to produce juicy fruit and continue growing. As part of your spring maintenance checklist, make sure your fruit trees receive enough water. You can do this strictly by hand-watering and drip irrigation or use these techniques to supplement other methods. Over time, you may need to monitor the soil’s moisture level and make changes to optimize the watering schedule.
Keep Your Trees Healthier This Spring
Performing spring fruit tree maintenance is essential to promote abundant fruit production and healthy tree growth. By pruning regularly, fertilizing, controlling pests, and keeping your trees adequately watered, they will reward you with years of high-quality fruit production.
Don’t let your Boulder, CO fruit trees fall victim to disease and pests. Call Roots Up Tree Company today, and let us give your fruit trees the spring pruning and other TLC they deserve.
