Proper maintenance through the spring and summer can help ensure a fruitful harvest come fall. For more region-specific information, contact your local Giving Grove affiliate. If you would like more information like this sent straight to your inbox, consider subscribing to The Serving, The Giving Grove’s quarterly newsletter.
Watering
Try not to overwater or underwater. Think about a typical rainfall and how much water that would be.
Feel a couple of inches below mulch to see if the soil is dry. If moist, watering is not necessary.
A good rule of thumb is that the trees need about 1” of water per week (1/2” for berries). This equates to approximately 5 gallons of water. However, the amount of water and frequency of watering depends on the soil type and weather. So be observant!
Root Area Care
Cover any exposed roots.
Make sure the graft is above the soil line.
Mulching helps keep the soil moist and weeds away. Also, it keeps damaging mowers and weedeaters away from the trunk.
Add a 2-3” layer of mulch with a 24-26” diameter around the tree.
Pull mulch away from the trunk to keep the graft and bark dry.
Pull any weeds that are growing in the mulched diameter around the tree.
Prune or pinch off any suckers (shoots) growing from the rootstock.
It’s important that the graft area (marked in orange) stay above the soil line.
Suckers or shoots should be pruned.
Staking
Only stakes on trees that need it.
Use tie material that won’t cut the bark.
Stake perpendicular to the winds (i.e., put stakes to the east and west if the wind blows north and south).
Stake low in the first year and during root development.
Drive in stake deep and away from the root ball.
Check on stakes during the season and adjust if needed.
Remove temporary staking at the end of the first growing season or after 2-3 years for semi-dwarfing varieties.
Permanently stake dwarfing varieties using a tall, strong wooded or metal post placed vertically 4-6 inches from the trunk and 2 ft deep upwind of the prevailing wind side. Or use a trellising system with stakes and wire.
Summer Pruning- Late July/Early August
Pruning helps allow light and breeze to reach the fruit. Summer pruning stops unnecessary growth so the tree can focus more energy on producing fruit.
Remove any competing central leaders (apples and pears).
Remove any dead, broken, or weak stubby branches.
Select scaffolding branches and prune back any competing, rubbing, or crossed branches all the way to the trunk.
The second set of scaffolding (primary) branches should be selected about 2-3 ft above the first set (less distance on dwarfing varieties). Prune any lateral branches between scaffolds all the way back to the trunk.
Remove any secondary branches (off of the primary branches) that are pointing straight down or up.
If needed, use limb spreaders to help create 45-60 degree angles off main branches.
Limb spreaders encourage 45-60 degree limb angles.
Tending to Fruit
In general, for the first two years, remove all fruit. You may allow one or two fruit to grow for tasting purposes. In later years, thin fruits:
Apples and Pears: 1 fruit per cluster
Plums and Nectarines: 2-4” between fruit
Peaches: 3-5” between fruits
Cherries: Not normally thinned
Bagging fruit can be done as insect control. Bag early when the fruit is about marble size. Use plastic baggies for apples and pears and cotton or nylon for soft fruits such as peaches and plums.
Only one apple per cluster should be allowed to grow.