Garden Medley

Fruit trees are a real delight in the garden. They produce a great deal of fresh food. However, they do require some effort beyond watering and fertilizing.

Your tree needs to be pruned once a year, either in late winter or spring. This will help to keep its branches strong, so that they do not break from excess weight when the tree is producing fruit. This can also be used to control the overall shape of the tree. You want to remove water sprouts, which are upright shoots that appear quickly. These are not good for the tree’s development or fruit production. You only want to remove major branches if you absolutely must.

As your tree begins to produce fruit, you will need to thin out the fruit. This serves two purposes. One, it allows the fruit that does grow to be larger and taste better. Two, it keeps the branches from breaking because there is too much fruit on them.

Don’t expect your fruit tree to produce the same amount every year. Some years it will produce more, others less. I had a plum tree growing up that one year produced more fruit than we could even manage to give away. We went all around the block giving away plums, sometimes being given other garden produce in return, but still couldn’t get rid of the plums fast enough. Other years there were enough plums for our family and a few family friends, but not much more.

Some fruit trees have relatively short lifespans, 20-30 years or so. This is just one of the things you will have to deal with.

Do not overwater your fruit tree. Too much water will damage your tree.

Proper fertilization is very helpful. The easiest person to ask is your local nursery employee, as needs vary depending on the type of tree.

Disease can be a major problem for fruit trees. I’ve seen many trees with curl leaf, which is just what it sounds like. Any time you see an obvious problem, remove a small branch with the problem and head to the nursery to see what to do about it. Sometimes you’ll be told to remove all leaves or branches with the problem, other times another solution will be suggested.

As your tree produces fruit, make sure you clean up all the excess that falls to the ground or that birds and bugs have eaten part of, but are still on the tree. You can toss these in the compost or throw in the trash, but they are unhealthy for the tree if you just leave them there.

Your fruit tree takes an investment at first, but the payback is enormous. You get fresh fruit that, through the years, costs you far less than what you would pay at the grocery store, and no worries about pesticides or wax on your fruit. Children love to run out and pick fruit right off the tree, so you have an instant healthy snack for the entire family.