Let’s start from the very beginning, when planting your fruit tree, don’t plant too deeply just cover the root ball and up to 5 cm above with soil in order to keep the trunk nice and dry. The ideal time to plant your fruit tree is autumn, but potted fruit trees (and our tree gifts too!) may be planted successfully all year round. Water the surrounding earth often enough to keep the ground damp. You can do this easily by ‘mulching’ around the tree base, this provides a wealth of nutrients and is the best way to conserve a constant moisture level. If you’re interested in making your own mulch, take a look at our blog post on Organic Gardening here.
Now, on to weeding. It’s important to clear out competitive plants to make sure your tree gets enough water and nutrients from the soil - so make the most of the sunny weather we’re having and get outside!
If you find yourself pruning your fruit tree, be careful not to remove too many branches filled with leaves – these are necessary to protect the tree from the sun in summer! Much like how sunburn can occur when we head out on a hot day, shaded leaves may be scorched and damaged when suddenly exposed to the sun. In general, it’s best to lightly prune to have an even growth rate of branches to promote even growth throughout the year.
When pruning stoned-fruit trees (such as plum and cherry) you may wish to prune away more branches in the top-centre of the tree, which forces growth to the outer branches of the tree where the most sunlight shines, for a sweeter fruit, that’s also easier to reach!
And there we have it. Showing a little extra love to your fruit trees will have an amazing pay-off and your delicious autumn crop will be the envy of gardens for miles around!
Click here to view our fruiting tree gift collection.
