Caring for fruit trees in June

June is the last month when you can still improve the yield of basically any fruit tree and you can start by paying attention to the soil around your fruit trees – you can loosen it and fertilize it with liquid fertilizers. You can also put mulched grass around trunks to retain moisture and help fruits with the ripening process… You can also lighten the crown by cutting and clipping unnecessary shoots.

Clipping off shoots

Apple trees in particular, are known to form unnecessary shoot – suckers. These are shoots that burden the tree and make the crown too dense and thus preventing light from reaching inside. Suckers also “steal” energy from the tree. Energy that could be used better. These suckers or shoots grow from the trunk or from the strongest branches. They are rather weak and grow vertically upwards. Since these are new and young shoots you can easily break them off.

Photo: Pixabay

Branch tying

It is a well-known fact that branches of fruit trees that grow horizontally produce the most fruit. But sometimes they grow rather upwards and “bend” to the vertical position only under the weight of fruits and that is too late. If you want to get these branches to the right vertical position you may do so by hanging a load on them. Tie bags with pebbles or sand to them and they will be forced to get more vertical. After one or two years, the branches will stabilize and grow in the position and direction you have forced upon them…

Lighting trees

A lighter crown, especially on apricots and peach trees will almost guarantee tastier fruits plus, an airy crown is able to fight various fungal and other diseases better. Focus on shoots that grow into the crown and cut them off. If you see that your tree is full of fruits and you should have a great harvest, you can support the branches to help them carry all the fruits. Support is recommended for all stone fruits (drupes), with the exception of cherries.

Fertilization

June is the last month when you still can fertilize your trees and when it actually still makes sense. This applies to fruit trees that you harvest in autumn, such as apples, plums and others. We can use soil fertilizers, but also foliar fertilizers which are applied to leaves.

Preview photo: Pixabay