Oregon Nurseries Article
How to Care for Your Fruit Trees
Fruit trees require a lot of TLC to grow and bear abundant fruit, so don’t be surprised if you have a while to wait after planting your first fruit tree. If you want that tree to grow and thrive, you have to learn how to care for it properly. Many newly planted fruit trees die before ever bearing fruit, and often it is because they aren’t cared for properly. So, if you plan to be picking fruit anytime in the future, you better take the time to learn how to care for those new fruit trees!
When a tree is young, it does not have the strength that older trees have. The roots, branches, and trunk are still very fragile, and therefore require extra care. Once your tree starts to bear fruit, the weight could be too much for it to bear, causing branches to snap and break, doing significant damage to your tree. To prevent this from happening, you should find a way to give those fruit bearing branches extra support to hold the extra weight. You can do this by placing boards underneath the branches to help hold them up, or you can tie them to something that is taller and sturdier nearby. You should do this for the first few years, until your tree has time to grow and develop the strength required to hold up heavy laden branches.
Your tree needs the right nutrients to bear fruit and to survive year after year. The exact nutrients your tree will need will depend on the area in which you live, the climate in your area, and what type of fruit tree you have planted. If you visit your local nursery, they should be able to give you good advice on nutrients and basic instructions for caring for your fruit tree.
While your fruit tree does require water, if you give it too much water, you will kill it, or harm the fruit. It is actually better for your fruit tree to be a little on the dry side, than to be soaked with extra water, so keep that in mind. If your fruit tree doesn’t look healthy, drowning it will not help!
If you happen to notice that your tree has some dead branches or branches that have been damaged in some way, it is better to go ahead and trim them off as soon as possible. These branches will only drain nutrients from the rest of the tree, which could eventually ruin the entire tree, so keep an eye out for that.
When your tree does start to bear fruit, don’t leave fruit on the ground around the tree. Insects that could potentially harm both your tree and the fruit it bears will be drawn to this forgotten fruit, and will make their way into your tree. Pick up any fruit that falls to the ground, and if you don’t want it, or if it isn’t any good, throw it away, rather than leaving it there to rot.
There is a lot of work involved in caring properly for a fruit tree, and it will take some time for you to become an expert at it. If you take the time to pay attention to your tree, and try to be on the lookout for any problems or needs, then you should be okay. Just don’t make the mistake of taking it home, planting it in the backyard and forgetting it, because you will only end up with wasted money and a dead tree!
