The orchard is waking up. Hurrah! blossom will soon be here. The trees sleep is over, and so is the gardeners – it’s time to get on the job!
Make it a habit to wander your trees regularly – better than any fertiliser is this friendship that happens, when you spend time with your trees. Get to know them through every stage: from bud break to blossom to pollination to fruit development to harvest to leaf fall. Notice too, as they shoot away, how they respond to your pruning cuts.
Deciduous Fruit Trees
The truth of healthy deciduous trees, lies not in what you add but in the environment you create.
They thrive where they are well suited to the conditions – I cannot stress this enough! Your trees and their rootstock (especially their rootstock) must suit your soil type. The other key aspect is that they are linked into a diverse relationship of groundcover plants, with a humming soil biology at their feet.
With all this sorted, the only fertiliser that’s required is a shovel of homemade compost and a woody mulch – that’s it!
Though, even this will change over time – the need for compost will likely fade away as your trees grow and the groundcovers beneath establish. Let your trees lead the way, they’ll show whether or not all is well, as will your annual soil test. Scattering wood chip hither and yon remains valuable as does a few biological sprays throughout the growing season.
Your garden evolves, and just like you and I – its feeding needs change. Stay in touch and adapt as you go.
My Basic Regime
Spread compost beneath the tree – not alot, especially if its bought stuff which is super concentrated. Be guided by your base soil. Use a bit more compost if you are on heavy clay or sand. If existing mulch is nicely breaking down, just go on top. If the mulch is raw, draw it back. If there is grass beneath your trees, lay wet cardboard first.
Top it off with a mixed woody mulch. The woody mulch is probably the most important bit. Toss some of the chips all over the orchard as well, to spread the fungal advantage. The power is when you address the whole area.
Use this same programme for bramble fruits.
Strawberries
Strawberries are shallow rooted + hungry!
They need something grunty right close to their roots. Rotten manure mixed through homemade compost and applied generously is my favourite. Mulch goes without saying, to keep the compost moist, the microbes happy and the fruits clean.
Slugs will turn up – they love strawbs. A night hunt at this time of year is the business. Toss them in a bucket of salty water as you go.
Citrus + Subtropicals
Don’t rush into feeding citrus and subtropicals (passionfruits, tamarillos, avocados). Feed them once the soil and weather begins to warm, which for some of you will be now and others like me, will be October.
Pull back the mulch and inspect the soil. Based on what you see + smell, spread a fine layer of compost + top it with mulch. If the soil needs a bit more add a bit extra before replacing the mulch – well rotten manure, vermicastings, fishwaste or seaweed.
A lump of wood nestled into the mulch is an awesome slow release addition and a great use for those too hard to split knotty bits in the firewood pile.