Proper maintenance through the spring and summer can help ensure a fruitful harvest come fall. For more region-specific information, contact your local Giving Grove affiliate. If you would like more information like this sent straight to your inbox, consider subscribing to The Serving, The Giving Grove’s quarterly newsletter.
Under Canopy Care
Add new mulch if needed and expand mulch rings around the tree trunk. Make sure that any roots are covered, but that graft union is exposed. Do not mound much around the tree trunk!
Remove tree wraps before April.
For peaches: protect peach trees from borers by wrapping the lower trunk with window screen at the ground surface. Also consider planting chives or garlic near the tree base once temperatures are above freezing.
Berry Bramble Care
If you haven’t mowed down or pruned your raspberry patch, do so now. Cut down the plants to just above the crown.
Tip and prune your blackberry laterals to 15” and remove all dead canes.
Cover berry patches with mulch to help with moisture retention and weeds.
Holistic Spray Application
Begin spraying holistic spray on your orchard as soon as temperatures are above freezing. You will spray your trees up to 5 times while the buds swell until the fruit sets. For detailed instructions and the recipe for holistic spray, click here.
Fruit Care
If your trees are under 2 years old, pinch off any fruits or flowers to encourage root and shoot growth.
On 3+-year-old trees, begin thinning fruit as it sets leaving 6”-8” between fruits for peaches, 4”-6” between fruits for apples and pears. Do not allow fruits to touch!