Apple tree in the spring after winter: what to do, care, advice from experienced gardeners

Caring for an apple tree in the spring after winter includes several activities at once. Even before the snow melts, the plants are fed with ammonium nitrate granules. Then the shelter is removed, cleaned in the trunk circle. The soil is carefully loosened and new mulch is laid. It is equally important to feed the trees in the spring. At this time, the emphasis is on nitrogen compounds.

How to properly care for an apple tree in the spring after winter

In the spring, caring for an apple tree is especially important. In most regions, winters are frosty, so the shoots inevitably suffer from extreme temperatures, some of them die. It is recommended to gradually remove the shelter, tidy up in the trunk circle, loosen the soil.

Some types of work (fertilization in the snow) are carried out as early as March. The main care activities are carried out in April. Moreover, it is important to focus on the weather forecast in order to protect the trees from return spring frosts in time.

Removing winter shelter

In many regions, proper care of an apple tree in spring begins with the removal of winter shelter – tapes, nets or other devices. You need to start work when a stable positive temperature is established on the street, i.e. even in summer it will be above zero. Dates in different regions are not the same – approximately this is the first half of April.

In this case, you should not rush, because the young bark can suffer from sunburn. If a non-woven porous material was used for shelter, through which air passes well, it can be removed closer to mid-April. At about the same time or a little earlier, the mulch is removed from the near-stem layer.

Damage treatment

Caring for young and especially old apple trees in the spring includes repairing the damage that the bark can get from rodents. As a rule, the lower part of the trunk suffers. You need to act depending on the nature of the damage:

1. If the surface layer is broken all over the circle, i.e. ring, the correct care measure is grafting a cutting. To do this, the wound is pre-covered and a bridge from the handle is fixed with a special tape, as shown in the diagram.
2. If only some part (and not the whole circle) is damaged, you can simply cover it with garden pitch. Other affected areas are treated in the same way.

Grafting a cutting with a bridge will help restore the plant

Moss and lichen removal

Care for young and old apple trees in early spring includes cleaning of lichens and mosses. They can grow all season, pests often hibernate in such plants. Therefore, it is imperative to remove them – for this they use a stiff brush.

To prevent the further appearance of mosses and lichens, it is recommended to treat the place after stripping with such means:

• potassium permanganate solution – 1 g per 2 liters of water;
• iron vitriol (2%);
• copper sulfate (0,5%).

Trimming and shaping

Spring care for apple trees includes pruning. First you need to remove all diseased, frozen shoots that did not survive the winter. Next, they act like this:

1. Remove branches that interfere with the old ones (block from the sun).
2. Several shoots of the second order are cut out so that there is an interval of 40-70 cm between the skeletal ones.
3. Another rule of spring care is to remove the top (if the tree is higher than 4 m). The crown has been shortened by a third for three consecutive years. This is necessary for rejuvenation and strengthening of skeletal branches.

In young seedlings, you need to pinch the growing points to begin crown formation. The procedure is carried out annually, focusing on the fact that all branches grow at about the same pace.

Whitewash

Caring for an apple tree after planting in the spring includes whitewashing the trunks. The procedure is carried out annually at the beginning of the season to protect the shoots from sunburn and pests. You need to start working immediately after removing the shelter. Some gardeners whiten apple trees in the fall, but this is a care mistake, as the layer will wash off over the winter.

For whitewashing, ordinary lime is used. The sequence of actions is as follows:

1. Stir 300 g of lime in 2 liters of water.
2. Add a few crystals of copper sulfate.
3. Mix thoroughly and apply on the trunk to a height of at least 1,5 m. Skeletal branches up to 20-30 cm from the central trunk can also be treated.

Watering

If the winter was snowy, the soil will remain wet for a long time after the cover has come off. Therefore, additional water is not required. But if the soil is dry, watering is necessary. Young trees are given 1-2 buckets of water, and adults – 5-8. The flow rate is large enough – this is necessary in order for the liquid to reach the deepest roots.

Watering apple trees is carried out after the soil dries out from melted snow.

Caring for apple seedlings after planting in spring includes weekly watering with 1-2 buckets of water. For mature trees, it is enough to give water once in spring and twice in summer, and then once in autumn.

Loosening and removing weeds

Spring care for apple trees includes loosening. It is recommended to start work after heavy watering or heavy rain. If you leave the soil as it is, a dense surface layer is formed, which prevents the penetration of oxygen to the roots of the plant.

Loosening is done with a rake or other tools. The soil needs to be dug up to a depth of 5 cm. At the same time, weeds are removed. The use of herbicides is undesirable, as this can lead to the destruction of beneficial soil bacteria.

Mulching

Mulching is an effective procedure that allows you to properly care for adult and young apple trees in the spring. Thanks to the protective layer, the soil will remain moist longer, the roots will not suffer from night frosts and temperature changes. Another important function is the prevention of pests and weed growth.

To do this, the surface layer of soil is preliminarily cleaned of plant debris and old mulch, and then new material is laid 5 cm high. Use:

• straw;
• rotted sawdust;
• compost;
• peat;
• bark beetle;
• humus.

Organic materials that enrich the soil with nitrogen and other elements are suitable as mulch.

Additional fertilizing

Caring for apple trees in the spring includes top dressing. In order for the trees to wake up as early as possible and recover after a difficult winter period, they are given the following fertilizers:

• in early spring (on snow) – ammonium nitrate granules in the amount of 20 g per 1 m²;
• on the eve of the appearance of flowers – potassium sulfate (40 g per 1 m²) and superphosphate (50 g per 1 m²);
• after flowering – a similar composition.

If there is no ammonium nitrate, it can be replaced with urea in the same amount. Also, after the snow melts, it is recommended to lay out a layer of organic mulch, such as peat, humus or compost. This is an important care rule that almost all experienced gardeners know about.

However, caring for two-year-old apple trees and older trees in the spring necessarily provides for regular top dressing.

Top dressing ensures rapid leaf growth and abundant flowering.

Protection against pests and diseases

Care in early spring necessarily includes treatment for diseases and pests. Back in March, before the buds begin to swell, it is recommended to clean off the old bark and treat the damage with garden pitch.

After that, a total treatment is carried out with copper sulfate (solution concentration 0,5-1%) or special fungicides:

• “Abiga Peak”;
• “Bordeaux liquid”;
• “Ridomil Gold”;
• “RAW”.

After the buds begin to swell, and the air warms up to 12-15 degrees during the day, it is recommended to spray the apple trees with insecticides:

• “Horus”;
• “Aktellik”;
• “Inta-Vir”;
• “Fufanon”;
• “Spark”.

Another important rule of spring care is the installation of trapping belts. The tape is glued to a small height of the trunk. This allows you to protect the shoots and leaves from dangerous pests such as weevils.

Caring for young apple trees in spring after winter

Care for young apple seedlings in the spring should be especially careful. They need good cover. To do this, the trunk is wrapped with a dense non-woven fabric, and the basal neck is mulched with fresh manure or sawdust.

In early spring, this shelter is removed, gradually unwinding the agrofibre. You should not rush, as there may be return spring frosts. In addition, the young bark can suffer from the bright sun. Therefore, caring for young apple trees, for example, in the Urals and Siberia, provides for the removal of shelter in the middle of spring. And in the middle lane, you can start work a week earlier.

Another important rule for caring for one-year-old apple trees in spring is regular watering. As soon as the soil dries up from melted snow, water should be given to young seedlings at least once a week (1,5-2 buckets). Pre-defend it – the liquid should not be cold.

In the spring, pruning should also be done. In a recently planted seedling (the first 2 years), all side branches are shortened by a third of the length. They do this in order to stimulate new points of growth.

How to care for an old apple tree in spring

Care for old apple trees should also be quite thorough. In the spring, it is necessary to cut off all dried, diseased, broken branches. They operate according to the following scheme:

1. Large branches are removed first, and then small ones.
2. Cut the crown, but not more than a third.
3. Clean all edges with a sharp knife.
4. Next, the wounds are treated with garden pitch.

Also, caring for an old apple tree in spring includes stripping the bark of moss and lichens. All damaged areas are treated with garden pitch.

Old trees must be pruned for rejuvenation

Features of caring for different types of apple trees

When carrying out care in the spring, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of different varieties. For example, for growing columnar apple trees, it is useful to know the following rules:

1. They have a shallow root system. Therefore, digging the soil under them should be abandoned, and loosening is carried out very carefully. If the roots are damaged, the tree may die.
2. Compacting the surface layer of the soil is unacceptable. So that it does not compact, cereals can be sown in the near-trunk circle.
3. Another rule for caring for a columnar apple tree in spring is the removal of all side branches. They take away too many nutrients and water.
4. The first feeding with ammonium nitrate granules is given after the snow melts, and the second – immediately after a week.
5. In the spring, it is recommended to do watering with slurry twice.

There are features of spring care for dwarf apple trees. Their root system is also superficial, so you can not dig the soil. During loosening, you need to work with extreme caution. These trees have to be watered regularly as the soil dries out quickly. After moistening, loosening and mulching are required.

Protection against spring frosts

In almost all regions of Our Country, return frosts are observed annually in spring. Therefore, one of the main requirements for care is to protect apple trees from adverse weather. You can do this in the following ways:

1. Make smoke – burn a fire nearby so that the smoke falls on the apple tree. It is best to use raw firewood that does not burn, but smokes. This is a good option, but it only protects against light frosts down to -4 degrees.
2. Sprinkle the crown – in the evening or at night, spray it from a sprayer or hose. The method only works if the weather is not windy. Otherwise, the effect will be the opposite.
3. If during frosts the apple tree was not protected, and subsequently there was no flowering, it is recommended to furrow the surface of the bark. Vertical cuts 5-7 cm long are formed on it with a sharp garden knife (as shown in the diagram).

Furrowing the apple tree is necessary to overcome the effects of frost

Conclusion

Caring for an apple tree in spring after winter is not too complicated, but it includes several types of work at once. In order for the tree to give a rich harvest, it is necessary to fertilize, prune, whiten the trunk, and treat it from pests. These events are carried out for all varieties without exception.