Gardendelightsnursery’s Blog
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Care of Combination/Multiple Variety Fruit Trees
The desire to have a multiple variety fruit tree is enticing. They give you a longer season of harvest with that selection of varieties and you can have more than one tree in the same space as just one tree which only has one type grafted onto it. There is one thing about the care/pruning of these types of fruit trees, and that is that some of the varieties grow at differing rates…some being slow, others very vigorous, and you have to prune accordingly to keep your tree in balance.
Pruning in this case involves not only keeping the tree relatively open (as recommended for all fruit trees), but you must prune back those vigorous growers more severely than the other varieties in order to keep the tree well balanced. You can also practise summer pruning to accomplish this goal. Just be sure to use sharp pruning tools and make clean cuts. If you wait until leaf fall, you can see the branch structure more clearly than when leaves are present, but a bit of keen observation and hands on practise will, in time, yield a similar result. (you learn by doing). This inequality of varietal growth is clearly seen on the tree itself. You wil see some branches out growing all the rest, and some branches will likely be very weak looking and grow very slowy (prune these just a little, if at all).
Your gaol is to balance the tree and keep the tree’s strength directed to all the branches as equally as possible.
Regular fruit tree culture can be followed for the rest of the general care of your tree. ie. thinning fruit, spraying if necessary, harvesting. (light tip pruning during the growing season if you practise summer pruning.)
Supporting the Weight of the Fruit Crop on Your Fruit Trees
Now is a good time to use ‘props’ to support the weight of the fruit crop on your fruit trees. This can be done in any number of ways and with all kinds of items, the goal being to support the weight of the fruit and prevent breakage of the branches due to this added weight of fruits.
All your previous care in pruning is helping to support the fruit crop now on your fruit trees. Hopefully you have thinned the excess fruit so it is spaced well apart. ‘Props’ are those supports usually cut from wood (poles, tree trunks, stakes, etc.) that support the weight of the fruit and prevent branches from breaking due to the heavy fruit on those branches. Anywhere you notice the branch bending excessively, just ‘prop’ a stake under that branch to support it. Some also lightly tie the prop to the branch in windy areas. This is just a temporary measure and is removed once the fruit is harvested.
if those small branches are bending a lot, you can also use string or wire to support those little branches.
Apples, apricots, pears, peaches and nectarines, plums, persimmons, pluots, plumcots, apriums will all benefit from having a heavy crop supported until it is harvested.
Good luck, and enjoy your tree ripened fruits!
Old Fruit Trees
Many people will have an old fruit tree(s). If they wish to have the tree improve in health and promote cropping, there are several ways to approach bringing that tree back into bearing. First of all, peaches, nectarines, and apricots sometimes do not respond well to pruning in old trees, just to let you know. It may be better to cut out the old veteran and replace with a young sapling.
But for most other fruits, try this. First cut out any dead, broken branches. Then trim out thickly dense branches or overly long ones. Remember, you do not have to do all the trimming in one season, it can be done over several years time. You want to take a keen look at the tree structure and branching in what you have left. You want branches spaced far apart and not above one another, you also want wide branch angles(they are stronger than narrow ones,which can split under the weight of a heavy crop) overly long branches can be tipped back to a side branch.
Dense branch areas can be opened up to allow more light and air into the tree interior.
An application of all purpose fertilizer will assist in promoting growth and perhaps fruiting. (use sparingly and cut amount recommended in half and feed twice as often) Now may be a good time to spray if there is insect or disease on the tree.
Do pruning during the dormant season since branches are easy to see without leaves.
Prune conservatively, trying to keep fruiting wood(spurs, those stubby little fat branches loaded with buds)
The basic objective is to open the tree canopy to allow light/air into the center of the tree and conserve fruiting wood to allow for harvest.
If the tree is too tall, you can cut back the leader/high branches to lower side branches. This will bring the canopy down to a more manageable level.
You may never get your tree down to a really short level, but you will make any attention to the tree far easier. (remember that trees want to grow UP, so keep those lower branches, and focus pruning on the higher top branches.)
After the initial haeavy pruing, you may have many suckers/watersprouts. These vigorous branches can be kept if they are well located to form a new branch structure and prune away old tired wood allowing these young branches to take their place.
This is a basic technique for most types of fruits, each has its own special techniques to promote the best results.
Add a comment to inquire for more specific details!
Fruit Trees
Here I will begin a discussion on the rewarding aspects of growing fruit trees. This topic will be broken down into two main areas. The first is how to handle young trees, trained to come into bearing earlier(younger) and the other is how to care for older trees.
First and foremost, there is truly nothing that can equal the taste of tree ripened fruit and the satisfaction of growing your own and picking a fruit at its peak of flavor and ripeness is extremely gratifying, not to mention very tasty!
The fruit tree growers recommmend keeping fruit trees small by the technique of summer pruning. you just trim branches (or pinch buds/branch tips) while the tree is activley growing. The number one reason why fruit trees fail in the home landscape is that too often the fruit is born too high up in the canopy of the tree and you need to have a ladder, pole picker, etc. Imagine how wonderful it would be to just go out into your garden and pluck off a tree ripened fruit, just by reaching out and taking a bite. NO ladders! That is the object of summer pruning..to keep the tree small forever by light trimming. This is called E Z – Pick or BYOC/back yard orchard culture, by the producers of sapling fruit trees.
It involves cutting a new young tree to about knee high, and then trimming back all new growth every 6-8″ each time the tree makes a growth spurt. Initial training focuses on tryint go build a good framework of branches to support heavy crops later on. The principle makes the tree direct growth into fruiting wood formation, not larger tree size.
For fruits such as apples and pears, instead of making structure on a large tree, you now conserve growth and are directing it to make fruiting wood (spurs) which make the tree come into bearing younger.
The same techniques of letting light in to the center of the tree and allowing good air circulation apply, but the tree is much smaller.
Now consider this, in the same space of a standard pruned tree (1 variety only unless budded with more varieties)you can now plant several trees, 3, 4 or even 5 in the same space(hole). You now have more variety/selection and have extended your fruit season. You also do not get too much fruit all at once! so there is little waste.
If you allow your trees to grow to 6 feet, then all your maintenance (if needed) is at arms reach.
This pruning technique allows you a versatile landscape opportunity as well. You can use trees pruned in this fashion to line a fence, screen a bad view, and a fruit tree listing on any property will ad value to that property!
I would recommend planting all of one type of fruit per hole/section, it makes for easier maintenance. (all cherries, or all apples, or all peaches for instance)
As for siting, a good sunny position is best for most fruit trees. Good drainage is also preferred, but if you keep trees summer pruned, you can now plant these in raised beds, or on mounds so the crown area of the tree will not be drowned in heavy rains/soggy soils. If you have sxtreme winds, a bit of buffering will assist in keeping heavy fruit from being blown down.
Pluots, apriums, plumcots, peachcots
This time of year (August) finds the hybrid fruit group between plums and apricots (pluots or plumcots) at their seasonal best. As this hybridizing effort combines the best of both apricots and plums (as well as peaches and apricots in peachcots),the fruit you get has much more flavor, and if picked at tree ripe maturity, a whole lot of juice as well. One bite yeilds dripping juiciness dribbling down your chin and the flavor is superb!
There are several varieties of pluots (mainly plum characteristics from plum parent side), (plumcots are an older hybridizing effort.) and apriums (showing mostly the apricot parent side) in each of these groups.
You may see them rarely offered as Flavor Supreme(reddish skin and red at skin flesh, Flavor Queen with yellow green skin color and super sweetness and flavor, Flavor King judged near the best in several fruit tastings. as well as Splash, Flavor Grenade (mottled purplish red and a large oval shaped fruit that has exceptional lasting qualities on the tree…they mature and stay in prime condition for 1 month – 1 1/2 months. There are other varieites as well. Remeber that anything you grow will taste much better than anything you can buy! …since you can pick it at peak ripeness, full of flavor and dripping with nectar like juiciness.
These varieites tend to look more like their plum side parents being vigorous growers with narrow oval leaves and making very vigorous growth. (If you summer prune these to keep them at a manageable size, you will have to trim them several times during the growing period).
But one thing is certain, you almost never taste a fully mature one from any store…they are picked just too green before flavor has had a chance to develop.
