Five apple trees planted on my site are not left without a harvest. The varieties are all different, but during flowering they are a magnificent sight. For a good harvest, I begin to take care of them from early spring.
How to heal damage left by frost or rodents?
As soon as the snow melts, I inspect all the apple trees. It happens that in winter hares run in to feast on tree bark or twigs. I cover the damage with garden pitch.
Brown spots, bursting bark may be due to severe frosts. I remove the dead parts and cover the sections.
Sometimes dark spots are visible on the apple tree, the bark peels off, cracks appear on the trunk. These are signs of sunburn. How do I do it in this case:
- I clean the bark until a healthy layer appears;
- I disinfect the wound with a solution of copper sulfate;
- I cover the damaged area with garden pitch and tie it with a dark cloth;
- I feed the tree with potassium-phosphorus fertilizer and ash.
How to protect the trunks in the spring?
Spring whitewash for apple trees is useless. This should be done in the fall. If the trees are left without whitewash or it has peeled off, it is worth installing shields from the sun next to them.
The second time you can whiten apple trees in February, but on condition that the temperature is not less than +5 degrees.
If it is cold, shields, burlap, spunbond, newspapers will save the trees from the sun's rays.
When can shelters be removed?
I remove shelters only when stable heat is established and the soil is completely thawed.
Premature opening of apple trees will lead to sunburn, their bark will crack.
How to do spring pruning?
I spend spring pruning of apple trees before the awakening of the kidneys.
First of all, I carry out sanitary pruning:
- I remove broken, frost-damaged and dry branches;
- I prune the branch that has grown below the graft.
Next, I carry out pruning, forming a crown:
- I cut out branches growing inside the crown;
- I remove growing at an acute angle and shading branches;
- between the skeletal branches I leave a distance of at least 40 cm;
- I leave horizontal or growing at a slight angle upward processes of the second order;
- at an apple tree that has reached 4 meters in height, I shorten the top;
- I process each cut with garden pitch.
If you need to cut a lot of branches at once for shaping, leave half the work for the fall so as not to weaken the apple tree.
How to treat apple trees from diseases and pests?
I carry out the first treatment before the awakening of the kidneys. I use copper sulfate, Bordeaux liquid or special preparations.
I carry out the second processing when the leaves have not yet blossomed. I use chemical fungicides.
From crawling pests I install trapping belts on the trunks.
After flowering, if necessary, I spray again, but I use biological preparations for this.
How to feed apple trees in spring?
In spring, trees need nitrogen in large quantities. I give each apple tree top dressing in the form of urea (two tablespoons per 1 sq. m near the trunk circle), a solution of bird droppings or compost.
In May, I plant superphosphate and potassium sulfate or nitroammophoska into the soil.
How to loosen the soil and how to mulch?
After winter, the soil has compacted, so it is necessary to loosen it for a better supply of oxygen to the root system.
To preserve moisture around the trunks, I lay out last year's sawdust, compost, humus, hay. I keep a small distance from the trunk so that the bark does not rot.
These are the actions in the spring that can give apple trees strength for further growth, health and a good harvest.
How do you take care of your apple trees in spring? Share your experience in the comments.
Read also: Peach leaf curl: what is this disease and how to deal with it?
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