March fruit tree care

If you haven’t inspected your fruit trees for a while, now is a good time to do so. My trees are still in their dormant stage, but with the milder temperatures and precipitation, the trees should be going into delayed dormant stage sometime in March and April. During the delayed dormant stage, buds—especially the flower/fruiting buds—begin to swell.

If you haven’t had time yet, prune your apple and pear trees. I’ll start pruning stone fruits (peaches/nectarines, plums, cherries) in mid March when the buds swell and show color. You’ll have time to prune until mid to late April depending on the weather. Hold off on pruning roses until mid April to avoid late frost damage.

When we get a few warm, sunny days in a row do the first dormant oil application to all varieties of your fruit trees (and roses). Dormant oil smothers over-wintering aphid eggs. I’ll have a complete spray schedule in the April newsletter.

December to-do

Fruit trees:

Give orchard area a last good soaking
Turn off, drain watering system
Protect trunks from sunscald
Clean leaves and debris from orchard floor
Mulch

November to-do

Fruit trees:

Give orchard area a last good soaking
Turn off, drain watering system
Protect trunks from sunscald
Clean leaves and debris from orchard floor
Mulch

October to-do

Fruit trees:

Check soil moisture; start cutting back on water
Clean up wind fall fruit at least weekly
Harvest apples - fruit ripe when seeds are dark brown to black

September to-do

Fruit trees:

Check soil moisture; start cutting back on water
Clean up wind fall fruit at least weekly
Harvest apples - fruit ripe when seeds are dark brown to black

August to-do

Fruit trees:

Check soil moisture and adjust watering system as needed
Cover apples and pears with bird netting
Continue to monitor for pests

July to-do

Fruit trees:

Check and adjust watering system as needed
Monitor for pests
Cover ripening cherries and stone fruits with bird netting
Harvest stone fruits as they ripen

June to-do

Fruit trees:

Thin fruit when less than 1/2 inch diameter
Continue/finish pesticide program for coddling moth
Check and adjust watering system

May to-do

Fruit trees:

Turn on watering system remove plastic tree guards
Check and refill coddling moth bait
Monitor for aphids (curled, deformed leaves at tips)
Monitor for powdery mildew (prune out affected shoots)
Mulch

April to-to

Fruit trees (March or April:

Plant bare root trees
Do second dormant oil spray at 1/4 inch green tip (organic?)
Fungicidal application 10 days after dormant oil and before bloom (organic?)
Check soil moisture once each month; water if necessary

March to-do

Fruit trees:

Plant bare root trees
Do second dormant oil spray at 1/4 inch green tip (organic?)
Fungicidal application 10 days after dormant oil and before bloom (organic?)
Check soil moisture once each month; water if necessary

February to-do

Fruit trees (can be done January through February):
Prune trees
Rake mulch away from the tree trunks
Check soil moisture once each month, water if necessary
Do first dormant oil spray if nighttime low will be above freezing (rare)

Raspberries - apply compost for vigorous growth

January to-do list

Fruit trees (can be done January through February):
Prune trees
Rake mulch away from the tree trunks
Check soil moisture once each month, water if necessary
Do first dormant oil spray if nighttime low will be above freezing (rare)

Cover crops

Vetches, clovers, peas, and beans are good cover crops for our yard

Certain brassicas are gaining popularity as cover crops -- radishes, mustard, and rapeseed. Biofumigation characteristics -- or their ability to reduce disease, weed and nematode pressure in subsequent crops; also do a really good job of breaking up compacted soils, increasing water permeability
We planted hairy vetch in fall 2008 -- should be planted right after summer crop is harvested; tilled under in early spring when the plants begin to flower. Turned-under green manure should be allowed to break down and mellow for a few weeks prior to planting the main summer crop.

Orchard - plant cover crop that includes perennial plants and self-seeding annual to provide living mulch. This feeds and protects the trees while providing an excellent habitat for beneficial insects and reducing weed pressure. White clover is good; include flowering plants like yarrow or tansy.