Five Tips for Your Fruit Trees

Are you a fruit tree lover? Do you have newly planted fruit trees in your garden? Do you want to learn how to care for them properly? If so, this blog post is for you! In this video, I'm going to cover five tips that you need to know to care for your newly planted fruit trees.

As you might already know, we have planted about 500 fruit trees in about three and a half acres, and they're doing spectacular! We have all sorts of cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, and plums. Every single tree is doing good, and every single one made it, so we have a 100% success rate, and I'm really excited about that.

Tip #1: Pruning the Fruit Trees

When pruning the trees, you need to get rid of any growth at the bottom of the tree. All of these trees are grafted, so any growth that comes out of the bottom of the tree is not going to be true to the plant that's going to produce fruit. So, we need to get rid of that. If you don't want any growth at a certain point, for example, below a particular point, just get rid of any new buds that are forming below that area.

Now, this tree is doing really well, and as you can see, it's producing a lot of stems from just one area, which is going to fill in the middle of the tree. What we want is the middle to be open and have all the stems around the tree so that it gets sunlight from top down in the middle of the tree as well. So, thin out any extra stems that you don't want that are growing inside of the tree.

Tip #2: Growing Cover Crop

Growing cover crop is actually pretty important because you want to maintain the biology in the soil and also encourage beneficial bacteria and all the beneficial microbes in the soil as well. And what does that? Root development! All of these roots help to increase the microbial activity in the soil and keep the soil loose as well. There are a lot of different types of cover crops you can grow, such as winter rye, alfalfa, and wild grasses that are native to your land as well.

Tip #3: Watering

Watering is very crucial. We have clay soil, so when it rains, it retains moisture very well. Now, if you want to know how often and how much to water your plants or your trees, I made a separate video about that where I cover watering in detail. However, in this video, I'll cover how you should be watering your fruit trees.

So, when we got a heatwave, I was watering my trees every other day, and I was not watering them every day. When I water my trees, I water them very deeply. I turn on the sprinklers at eleven o'clock at night and turn them off at six o'clock in the morning. So, I water them for seven hours, and these sprinklers provide four gallons an hour. Each one of these trees is getting 28 gallons throughout the night, and I'm covering about 10-foot diameter with that sprinkler to soak the ground all the way down to two to three feet deep so the roots grow into the ground and chase the water down.

Tip #4: Controlling Weeds

Most commercial orchards use Roundup on their berms to get rid of the weeds. When we planted all of these trees, there were lots of weeds growing on the berms. So, I started asking everybody what they did.

Tip #5: Pest Management

One of the most important aspects of fruit tree care is pest management. There are many pests that can damage your fruit trees, such as aphids, mites, and fruit flies, to name a few. It is essential to identify these pests and take the necessary steps to control them.

One effective way to control pests is through the use of beneficial insects such as ladybugs and praying mantises. These insects are natural predators of many fruit tree pests and can help to keep their populations under control. You can purchase these beneficial insects online or at your local garden center.

Another effective method of pest management is through the use of organic sprays. These sprays contain natural ingredients that can help to control pests without harming the environment or beneficial insects. Make sure to read the label carefully and follow the instructions for use.

In conclusion, caring for newly planted fruit trees is crucial to ensure they grow into healthy and productive trees that will provide you with delicious fruit for years to come. Remember to prune your trees regularly, grow cover crops, water deeply and infrequently, and manage pests using natural and organic methods. With these tips, you can enjoy a bountiful harvest of fresh, delicious fruit from your own backyard orchard.