Apple Trees and Other Fruit Trees - Pruning and Disease

I pruned my apple trees on April 5.  I knew I had to hurry, as the daily temperature is warming up and the trees will soon be in bloom.  The best time to prune apple trees and other fruit trees is while they're still dormant, which is late winter to early spring.  However, I did read somewhere that any pruning is better than no pruning at all. Again, I followed the instructions I received at a WMMGA seminar.

I pruned my plum tree, nectarine tree and pear trees yesterday, on April 9.  My plum tree looked horrendous.  It had (and still has) "wounds" all over and looks pathetic.  I'm wondering if I should rip it out?  I tried to prune off as much of the wounded wood as I could, but the trunk also has gaping wounds. The base of the trunk is also a mess with chewed bark. I feel so bad for this tree!  I wonder if I should call a tree specialist or just consult a good book. Maybe I should send pictures into the email hotline!? Now there's a thought!

 All of the trees showed a lot of new growth, but a lot of that growth had to be cut off in order to let light and air through the tree.  Also, many of the branches were growing either straight up or straight down, or they were growing inward or rubbing against each other.  I cut so much that I was worried I wouldn't have anything left of the trees!  However, this is good for the trees and will result in a lot of fruit (I hope!!)

Pruning got a little tricky where "central leaders" were concerned.  All of the trees have obvious central leaders except for my nectarine tree.  There just isn't one central leader. As a result, it looks like a tuning fork!  I think this is because it wasn't pruned properly in the past.

Lemon Trees Sending Out More Growth

I'm so excited about my lemon trees, because they continue to send out lots of new growth.  I'm hoping that one day soon, I'll be seeing lots of blossoms! That would be quite a reward!  All this new growth is due to fertilization and pruning.  I'm due to fertilize the trees again this Friday (June 14).

Pruning Spirea

We learned in a WMMGA class that spirea can be pruned at any time.  I usually prune mine after they bloom, and I thought I was doing a good job pruning them back.  These pictures show, however, that even after a good pruning, they can get quite large again.  I haven't wanted to prune them back, though, because I'd be cutting off the blooms.  I guess I'll prune after they bloom and then once again.

 

Garden Notes - May 27, 2013

I was outside by 10:30 this morning, determined to make the best use of this gorgeous day.  I didn't stop until 4:30.  I only stopped because I could feel my shoulders stinging from sunburn.  But, it was a productive day!

First, I brought out all my plants into the sunshine and checked everything that I had already planted.

Next, I went to work in the front.  Jamie is anxious to get the mulch down, but I wanted to prune all the azalea bushes, hollies, and Japanese barberry bushes first.  I pruned them as far back as I could. Every year we mulch first, but then after I prune the bushes, I feel like I'm scooping up all the mulch when I pick up the branches.

I also did a lot of weeding up front. I still need to fertilize all the bushes up front, but I can do this after the mulch is laid.  The front is now ready for mulch.

The front took most of the day, but after I fertilize and mulch, I won't have to think about it again until next year.  And it looks so pretty!  Michael finished painting the rose trellises, so I'll put those in place tomorrow or Wednesday. And I planted the Snowball marigolds that I grew by the Midnight salvia and roses.  It should look lovely when they bloom (although I think the salvia will be spent).

Then I worked a little bit on the perennial garden.  I planted the Baptisia plant I bought at the plant sale, as well as the two Rose Campion plants.  I weeded a little bit and cut some dead canes off the climbing rose, and had to prune back a butterfly bush the a deer pushed over. Grrrr.





I planted all of my French marigolds, too - some at the edge of the perennial garden, some along the edge of my bean garden, and the rest along the edge of my vegetable garden.

Actually, before I planted the marigolds, I started to rake and shovel the vegetable garden.  It was impossible!  It was all hard and lumpy, and now I feel really bad that I put my seedlings into such unprepared soil!

When I realized that it would take me all day to prepare the soil, and that I already had an aching back, I worked up the courage to pull the rototiller out.  I was worried that I wouldn't be able to start it up, since I'm not really good with machinery.  Well, it started up (after a prayer!).  In no time, the vegetable garden, James' pumpkin patch and my bean garden were in perfect condition for planting!



So, moving right along!  Tomorrow, I plan on putting in the rest of my seedlings, all of my seeds, and my dahlias.  I plan on setting up some fences and the rose trellises, doing some fertilizing and setting out some mulch.  Another busy day!

A couple of concerns.  The deer and rabbits.  And the fact that a few of the plants are struggling (see plant on left.  Yikes!).

Need to Clean Things Up - Front of House

 

 

I have so much work to do up front:  Besides pruning the azaleas, I have to lay down new weed cloth before I can mulch, because the gardens are being over-run with grass, mint, weeds, and lily-of-the-valley.

 

I also need to get those new trellises painted so I can tie the climbing rose to it.  It's been spilling all over the place for the last couple of years.

 

And I need to do something about all the mint growing by the rosebush.  It looks like it's going to choke the bush if I don't get to it soon.

 

I'm not sure what to do with our walk-way.  It really needs to be replaced, as the bricks are crumbling and it's overgrown with weeds.  Maybe next year.

Lemon Tree

James and I started the 2 lemon trees, seen in the background of this photo, when he was 6 years old.... He's 12 now, making these trees 6 years old.  The seeds come from an organic lemon I picked up from Whole Foods Market, and miraculously, they grew.  We have yet to see any flowers, but then again, I haven't really concerned myself with finding out how to properly care for them.  All that has changed, and I'm determined to get at least 1 lemon from them!



I learned in my WMMGA class that I was not properly pruning these lemon trees, and that a certain pyramid shape should be encouraged.  My trees didn't have the proper shape, so I had to prune back the top of one, which was top-heavy.  Also, as seen in the above picture, it could use some more branches.  I learned how to do what's called "notching" in one of my classes, so about 2 or 3 weeks ago I tried it on my trees.  I also bought some fertilizer called Citrus Tone to put around the plants.  Almost immediately, I saw new growth!

I'm still not seeing branches in the middle of the trunk, or the beginning of growth, but I will keep at it.  I have also been bringing the trees outside each day, so that hopefully they will get the air, heat, and sunshine they require.  And of course, if they ever get any blooms, they're going to need the bees!

Here are some useful links on notching:

http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/article/34/

Working with fruit trees

I hadn't set aside enough time to prune the trees this season.  I finally took some time in April to examine the branches, though.  Leaves had already started to appear on the branches, so I decided to wait until next year to prune them.  It needs to be done at the end of March, no later than the first week of April. 

However, we learned in WMMGA that we can widen the crotch angles and improve the structure (or scaffold) of the trees.  The time to do this is in April, and  it takes about 5-6 weeks to accomplish.  So, I purchased some Gorilla Glue, gathered some rocks from the back yard, and made some weights to use on the trees.  Only 2 of the 6 fruit trees seemed to need some help:  the plum tree and one of the pear trees.

 

 



I noticed that there is a lot of damage on the plum tree.  The base of the trunk has been gnawed at by either mice or voles, and the trunk and lower branches have cracked, rubbed bark.  I don't know if it's been caused by deer or the sun, but I will make sure to wrap my baby trees in November to protect them from winter injury and pests.

Update on Blueberry Bushes

I put in my blueberry hedge in September.  Well, it didn't take long for the critters to discover them, and they immediately devoured the tender stems:



I recently surveyed the damage and could see that if these bushes are going to survive, they are going to need protection of some sort.  This picture shows nibbled branches:

I also needed to amend the soil, because the soil test reported that this soil is too alkaline.  I added some "Holly Food", which is good for blueberries, too.  It needs to be applied again in a couple of months:

So, I picked up some wire mesh and constructed some "cages" yesterday (April 22).  After I amended the soil, I buried the bottoms of the cages in the soil and covered them with some dirt and mulch, to help keep them anchored:

Today, I went out to inspect them, and I discovered that some creature was trying to dig under the cages!!! Four of them!!!!

I was glad to know that I had protected these plants.  Well, later in the day, I caught the creature in the act:







Guilty!

"Who, me?!"

Yes, you!

I had to put Shadow in the house after he did it again.

Anyway, like the fruit trees, I never got around to pruning the older blueberry bushes, and will have to make it a priority next March.  It's not the end of the world, but neglecting the bushes sure won't bring much fruit.

Incidentally - one of the biggest mistakes I made was buying such immature plants.  I should have paid more to have bigger plants, then we'd be eating blueberries so much sooner.  I'll be lucky if I get blueberries in 3 to 5 years!

Too Late for Pruning Fruit Trees, and Other Mistakes

Unfortunately, I have been so busy for the past couple of months that I never set aside enough time to prune my fruit trees.  This is unfortunate, because this is their second year in my yard, and I have never pruned them.  Fruit trees need to be trained while they are still young to encourage good framework.  They will be healthier, stronger and more fruitful in the long-run.  Fruit trees are supposed to be pruned while they are still dormant, but I saw today that all of my trees are in bloom.  The ideal time to prune fruit trees in Massachusetts is late March.  I have no choice but to wait until next year. This is already on my March To-Do List, but next year I will be sure to make it a priority.

I did take time to examine all of my trees today.  So many issues.  For starters, I have the wrong pruners.  These have a blunt edge.  I need to get pruners that have 2 sharp edges.  Also, I'm supposed to keep these things clean!

 

 

I noticed that most of the trees have multiple central leaders instead of one, and that most of the trees have very narrow crotch angles, which means that the trees are susceptible to breakage in storms.  This tree needs to be thinned out, but it already has buds.  Also, I need to start putting weights on some of the branches to encourage them to drop, creating wide crotch angles:

 



This tree has multiple leaders and needs to be corrected next year:

I also discovered other signs of abuse and neglect.  For instance, I just got around to removing the tags from all my trees.  Shame.  Also, I need to put mulch around the trees to protect them from weed-wackers and lawn mowers:

 

 

Lastly, I need to get some tree wrap to protect the trees from deer, mice, and sun.  My plum tree has suffered from either deer rubbing against it or sun-burn - not sure which.  I intend to wrap them as soon as possible and put wire mesh around all the tree trunks.  Also, some of the trees trunks are being chewed by mice or voles:

 

 

 

The pests can be brutal.  I didn't realize baby trees were so vulnerable.

 

Before I went out to prune the trees, I reread my post from early April about pruning fruit trees.  However, I didn't feel like I had enough information, so I did a little more research.  Here are some other useful sites:

 



http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/pruneapples.html

 

http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/A1959.pdf

 

http://www.weekendgardener.net/how-to/prune-apple-trees.htm

More Pruning - Spirea Bush

Here are two "before" and "after" shots of the spirea ("bridal veil") in my front yard:

Big difference!!  Should look nice when it blooms.  Of course, Shadow is right there!

Update May 28, 2012: