SERIES 36 | Episode 25
Left to their own devices, some fruit trees will offer up a good harvest each year.
But if you follow a seasonal care plan, you’re giving your fruit trees the best chance to reward you with bumper crops.
While the branches are bare on his ‘Satsuma’ plum tree, Josh does some pruning. He looks for branches that are crossing over or crowded – removing the congestion ensures more sun into the tree and good air flow through the plant when the leaves have grown back, so it’s less prone to fungal diseases or pests.
Removing top branches that are too far above head height will also save your tree’s energy; there’s no point producing fruit that you can’t reach.
Be aware of the flowering and fruiting habit of the tree you’re pruning; plums and other stonefruit produce fruit on second-year wood so don’t cut off too much or you’ll get no harvest.
Josh’s dwarf mulberry fruits on new wood so it’s more forgiving and can be cut back harder.
He’s pruned a kumquat back hard after moving it from another part of the garden; he’d hoped for ‘mild’ conditions but instead it was unseasonably hot and the tree suffered as a result. He has pruned back to one of the few remaining green areas and it’s now reshooting.
Luckily there are no shoots growing from below the graft (which might show the grafted top section is completely dead), so the tree should re-establish and survive.
Josh also clears out groundcover plants under the trees that are prone to fruit flies, such as his tree guava. Make sure there’s no old fruit on the ground, to reduce the chance of reinfestation. If you find some, bag it and bin it.
Fruit trees are reliant on pollinators so whatever you can do to attract them to the garden will help. Josh plants three low-growing flowering shrubs that are known to attract bees and other pollinators: Euryops, salvia and ageratum.
Most fruit trees, especially citrus, are heavy feeders, so fertilising ahead of spring growth is a must. Pelletised manure applied in mid-late winter will have a chance to break down and supply the nutrients to the tree by the time they emerge from dormancy.
Finally, a layer of mulch will help keep the soil cool and retain moisture in dry weather. A 50-75mm layer is perfect.
Water in well.
Featured Plants PLUM ‘SATSUMA’Prunus salicina cv. DWARF BLACK MULBERRYMorus nigra cv.GOLDEN DAISY BUSHEuryops pectinatusSALVIASalvia cv.FLOSS FLOWERAgeratum cv. ** Check before planting: this may be an environmental weed in your area
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