The third and maybe the most gratifying in my opinion is to simply plant a new bare-root fruit tree this winter. Your new tree will use the winter dormant season to establish new roots and when the spring arrives, your tree will be on its way to providing an abundance of fruit and shade. Expect a first crop two to three years after planting but know that before then, it will give you something picturesque in the spring and shade in the summer. Taken and simplified from a Sacramento News source, the Sacramento Bee, a few great basics to planting are given as follows:

• Before planting, soak the tree’s bare roots in water several hours or overnight. That helps rehydrate them.

• Prepare the planting hole and the surrounding ground. Roots can’t grow in compacted soil. So dig a hole twice as wide

• Trim off any damaged roots before planting.

• After positioning the tree, use the same dirt to refill the hole halfway and firm gently, squeezing out any air pockets

• Lay the shovel handle (or other long straight edge) across the top of the hole to check the tree’s depth. You don’t want to plant it too deep. Once the hole is filled, the soil should slope gently away from the trunk so water can’t collect at the base (which can rot the crown).

• Finish filling the hole, gently firming the soil around the roots. The top roots will be just below the surface of the soil.

• Water deeply. Water once or twice a week (less if it rains) until the tree is well established.

• Wait until new growth is several inches long before applying any fertilizer.

• Keep the area around the new tree weeded. Don’t plant anything else under the sapling; that undergrowth will compete for water and nutrients. Use mulch to maintain soil moisture for the new roots, but keep it 2 to 3 inches away from the trunk.

Your winter checklist is complete.  Prune, fertilize and plant a new tree this month.  Rearing up for the summer months gets us back into the soil to get a little dirty and most certainly closer to nature.  It won’t be long until we will be relying on our trees for a cool place to rest. Until then, get outside and take care of your trees.

To learn more, sign up for our Backyard Skills: Fruit Tree Pruning and Grafting workshop tomorrow, Saturday, February 18th, from 1-3pm. You’ll learn the basic principles of fruit tree grafting, pruning, and care with our local fruit tree expert Doug Hibbard. We hope to see you there!

$10 members, $15 non-members + $10 material fee (includes a grafted apple tree to take home)

Resources:

http://www.groworganic.com/

http://www.greenback.com.sg/product/organic-and-chemical/

http://www.idiggreenacres.com/

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/03/4088065/winter-is-ideal-time-to-buy-plant.html

The second way we can take care of our trees in the winter is to fertilize and to fertilize right. Depending on the variety, the soil beneath it, and where you live, how and what you fertilize with will need to be determined. The general consensus is this: Fertilize fruit in the fall or winter, before they go into dormancy and can’t absorb the nutrients. In addition, check with a local nursery or another knowledgeable source if you need more information.

More importantly however than to just fertilize, is to organically fertilize.  Yes, chemical fertilizers may in fact seem to have its benefits giving us quicker results with specially formulated blends that can balance our soil to an exact science, but in turn we are left with the dangers of over-concentration or over-dosage of nutrients.  In addition, chemical fertilizers are generally not as biodegradable allowing chemical fertilizers to release harmful chemicals that end up contaminating our land and bodies of water. Organic fertilizer gives us long-term effects and allows us to stay in character, leaving less of an environmental footprint.

Summing up, slow is good!  Slow and consistent absorption at a sustained natural rate allows for the plant or tree to adjust properly. Microorganisms works on the organic fertilizer, breaks it up, release the nutrients and ensures long-term fertility in the soil.

To learn more, sign up for our Backyard Skills: Fruit Tree Pruning and Grafting workshop on Saturday, February 18th, from 1-3pm. You’ll learn the basic principles of fruit tree grafting, pruning, and care with our local fruit tree expert Doug Hibbard. We hope to see you there!

$10 members, $15 non-members + $10 material fee (includes a grafted apple tree to take home)

Resources:

http://www.groworganic.com/

http://www.greenback.com.sg/product/organic-and-chemical/

http://www.idiggreenacres.com/

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/03/4088065/winter-is-ideal-time-to-buy-plant.html

Our trees stand stark, cold and appear to look gloomy in the winter months. Awaiting the spring sun, those bare trees hopefully will explode with color and fruit once again.  Lonely as they look however, they actually really need tending to now. Winter care ensures not only a good crop of fruit the following season, but our care now will promote good health and longevity to our ever-giving fruit trees for years to come.  As for what exactly you can do for your dormant friends outside, three basic things come to mind for winter care: pruning, fertilizing and planting.

Pruning may seem like something that would be optional if the tree appears healthy enough, but in fact, pruning in the winter months may be the only reason your trees will bring you full, tasty, perfectly shaped, beautiful colored fruit.  Without pruning you leave your trees vulnerable to infestation or rot.  In addition, the tree most likely will be less productive, congested with old branches.

Before starting off, it is important to keep these few Pruning Principles taken from Lewis Hill’s book “Pruning Made Easy” in mind:

-Train the young tree to grow in a spreading shape

-Keep in mind an image of the mature tree as you clip or snip off the buds or tiny twigs.  Aim to develop a strong tree with a branch structure sturdy enough to hold up the crop.

-Prune in accordance with the tree’s natural growth habit

-Thin! Keep the branches sparse enough for fruit to get enough sunlight to ripen.

To learn more, sign up for our Backyard Skills: Fruit Tree Pruning and Grafting workshop on Saturday, February 18th, from 1-3pm. You’ll learn the basic principles of fruit tree grafting, pruning, and care with our local fruit tree expert Doug Hibbard. We hope to see you there!

$10 members, $15 non-members + $10 material fee (includes a grafted apple tree to take home)

Resources:

http://www.groworganic.com/

http://www.greenback.com.sg/product/organic-and-chemical/

http://www.idiggreenacres.com/

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/03/4088065/winter-is-ideal-time-to-buy-plant.html

Back by popular demand, local fruit tree expert, Dr. Doug Hibbard will be joining us once again for Backyard Skills on Saturday, February 18th on Fruit Tree Pruning and Grafting.  In preparation, we thought it fitting to take a little time, sit down with our expert and ask Dr. Doug a few key questions.

Q: How did you get into fruit tree pruning and grafting and how long have you been doing it?

A: I’ve been doing both for about 20 years now. Both my grandparents were gardeners and, though I was gardening a lot before that, I realized it’s easier to grow fruit than veggies. I wanted to learn to grow as many things as I could on our property so I got involved with the California Rare Fruit Tree Growers – they were the best source for what would grow in our area.

Q: Why did you decided to propagate your own, what grafting techniques are there and which do you use most?

A: The goal of fruit gardening is variety, not necessarily quantity. Grafting allows us to create far more variety of fruit in a smaller space. The one I use the most, because its easiest, is called cleft grafting, where you make a scion and graft it onto the mother. This is the technique we used in the workshop at The Ecology Center last year and will use again this year. I have also bark grafted and done pea budding, both of which are tougher to do. Using the pea budding technique, I was able get the Gravenstein variety from my grandparent’s land years after their farm was torn down.

Q: Has the art or technique of it changed much over time, or since you’ve been involved?

A: Not since I’ve been doing it, but it has changed in the last 30 years or so with the use of Parafilm – a wax tape that’s actually used more in the surgical industry. It creates a little greenhouse that allows the grafting wound to heal without drying out.

Q: Why is it important for people to learn more about fruit tree care and culture?

A: The number 1 reason is taste and health of the fruit – growing your own is far superior to buying at the market. Number 2, the real joy of grafting and pruning, it tunes you into the seasonal changes within our year because each part of the process has to be done in it’s own time. Also, it’s really fun to be able to grow varieties that you can’t find in the market, like my grandparent’s Gravenstien apple. One of the major benefits is that you can have a lot of variety in a little space, which greatly extends your season – if you do it right, you can be eating fresh apples from late May to January (in California). It’s also important to continue saving heirloom varieties that would otherwise be lost.

Q: With these techniques, could we reforest our communities with edible plants and trees?

A: Absolutely, especially in this area.

We hope this interview has enticed you to come and join us here at The Ecology Center!  This is going to be an incredible day with great instruction.  In addition, you will be able to take home your very own grafted apple tree (included with your material fee).

Great things are happening!

Be sure to sign up to reserve your spot with Dr. Doug.

$10 members, $15 non-members + $10 material fee