Fruit trees can be a valuable part of any landscape. Whether it’s for their fruit or just their flowers it is important to care for your trees to make sure they are around for years to come.
PRUNING FRUIT TREES IN COLORADO
Pruning your fruit trees is a key part of caring for your fruit tree.
Mature trees: Maintaining good airflow and structure in older trees is the most important thing. Over pruning can be harmful to your tree so keeping cuts to a minimum and avoiding unnecessary cuts is the goal.
Young trees: Young trees are easier to work with in terms of pruning because of their faster growth patterns and lack of older mature branches. Young trees can also be pruned to fit specialty structure methods like espalier.
DISEASE AND PEST MANAGEMENT
Fruit trees can be difficult to care for in terms of diseases and pests as some varieties are prone to common diseases like fireblight and cytospora canker. These diseases can add extra cost to the care of your trees, but are avoidable if you care for your tree properly. Preventative sprays can help to mitigate repeat infections from fireblight in the chance that your tree becomes infected, but the best method for protection is timed pruning in the dormant season.
Important things to remember:
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Fruit trees do not bear fruit right away – in most cases it will be about three years until the tree begins bearing fruit.
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Some tree varieties are susceptible to fireblight which is a bacterial disease so additional costs to protect them may be necessary.
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Fruit trees grow relatively slow so they will need extra care for the first few years after planting.
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Fruit trees should only be pruned when the tree is dormant unless absolutely necessary.
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Proper fertilization of your fruit trees can improve health and fruit production.
Whether your tree is mature or you’re looking into planting a new fruit tree, making sure your tree is healthy and free of pests and diseases will help to ensure your tree doesn’t die and produces plenty of fruit.
Contact the team at Splintered Forest today to create a treatment plan today!