TREE CARE (during 1st year)
1. Remove trees from plastic, dip roots in water and cover roots with damp soil until planting time.
2. Planting: form a mound on which to plant the tree – the higher the better. Dig a hole to accommodate the root system, avoid pruning roots except for any that are broken. Cover the roots with loose soil and firm by foot. After planting, the soil level at the butt of the tree should be about 10cm below the graft union. Form a shallow basin around the tree and water the tree immediately with 9 litres of water.
3. Planting distances: Fruit trees can be spaced 4m apart, shade trees such as ash are spaced 5 to 10m apart while avenue trees can be spaced 2 to 6m apart depending on the density of the screen required.
4. Fertilizer: 200g superphosphate (phosphorus) per tree raked into the soil after planting, 70g urea (nitrogen) each month from November or 150g blood and bone per month. The requirement for other nutrients will vary according to your local soil type.
5. Pruning: Newly planted fruit trees need to be pruned to a height of 50 to 70cm at the time of planting. Other trees (ash, poplars etc) need their branches shortened back to 20cm long, trees over 2.0m tall should be reduced in height by approximately 1/4 and branches reduced. Weeper branches need to shortened to 20cm long to buds pointing in directions which will enhance the shape of the weeper, that is, to fill gaps in the frame.
6. Weed control: An area of 1 square metre around the tree must be kept weed free with mulches or hand hoeing.
7. Pests and diseases: The main pests are aphids, caterpillars, plum and cherry slug, mites and scale. Spray when these pests appear, or if in doubt, spray every 6 weeks with an insecticide. Leaf curl on peaches, gummosis on apricots and powdery mildew on apples are the main diseases. Bordeaux (copper and lime) sprayed in winter will control leaf curl and gummosis, lime sulphur will control powdery mildew on apples. Winter and summer oil will control scale.
How to make Bordeaux copper spray for leaf curl:
Components: (i) copper sulphate (available at farm supplies, garden supplies or pharmacies)
(ii) limil (available at building supplies, hardware shops)
Preparation 100g copper sulphate and 100g limil is mixed in 10 litres water. The mixture needs to be constantly agitated to prevent the lime settling out.
8. Watering trees: trees will need regular waterings throughout spring and summer and should be watered at least every two weeks. In mid summer, trees will need 10 to 15 litres per week, however take care not to waterlog trees by overwatering.