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Here comes autumn … Experienced gardeners are in a hurry to finish the last preparations of trees and shrubs for frost. It is necessary to take care of apple trees during this period. Over the summer, they devoted a lot of energy to the formation and growth of fruits. It is quite natural that caring for an apple tree in the fall is simply necessary so that next year it will also please you with a bountiful harvest. What work is important to have time to do in the garden before the frosts come?
Do I need autumn care for apple trees
Most gardeners prefer to transfer all work in the garden to the spring, believing that autumn care for apple trees is not so important. But this is a common mistake. Apple trees, like many other fruit trees, really need help to fully prepare for the cold.
The purpose of caring for apple trees in the fall is as follows:
- Protect trees from insects and pests;
- To carry out prevention against diseases;
- Protect against small rodents and hares;
- Protect apple bark from sunburn;
- Increase winter hardiness;
- Increase the quantity and quality of the future crop.
As you can see, there is a lot of work in the garden in the fall, and without your help it will be difficult for apple trees to fully prepare for the winter and survive the severe frosts.
When to start preparing for winter. Autumn work dates
Every summer resident has a lot of trouble in the fall. It is necessary to collect abundant harvests, put fruits and vegetables for long-term storage, process the harvested fruits, and in the garden, only things need to be redone. A natural question arises: when do you need to start caring for apple trees in the fall and how to do it all?
Autumn work in the garden is cyclical. With the right timing, you can do everything. It is important to complete the following activities in stable frosts:
- Cleaning the garden from foliage;
- Autumn watering and top dressing of apple trees;
- Loosening the soil under the trees;
- Trunk cleaning and trimming;
- Disinfection;
- Whitewashing apple trees in autumn;
- Mulching;
- Protection of seedlings and trees from frost and rodents.
Separately, each stage does not take much time. You will learn how to properly care for an apple tree, and in what order to perform autumn work, from this article.
Clearing the garden from leaves
The first stage of caring for apple trees in autumn begins after harvesting with cleaning the garden from fallen leaves and weeds. Recently, it has been widely believed that there is no need to remove leaves and grass. Allegedly, it can serve as mulch for apple trees. But this is not so, leaving fallen leaves in the garden, you leave “home and shelter” to numerous insects and pests. Even ticks are very fond of hiding in the garbage, leaves, dry grass.
Therefore, in order to protect the apple trees, the foliage must be removed from the garden without fail. Do the same with weeds, broken branches and other debris that has accumulated over the summer. All collected garbage must be burned.
Autumn watering and top dressing
After harvesting, you can immediately proceed to the next stage of work on caring for apple trees. In the first and second decade of September, fruit trees should be watered abundantly. This is done so that the root system, sufficiently weakened by autumn, is saturated with moisture.
To save time and effort, you can combine autumn watering with timely top dressing. Pour at least a bucket of water under each tree, and then apply fertilizer. You need to feed apple trees in the fall twice – at the beginning and end of September. But they need to be watered at least 2-3 times a week.
With an abundance of autumn rains, watering should be reduced to prevent waterlogging of the soil.
Most of all, after abundant fruiting, apple trees need phosphorus and potash fertilizers in autumn. Apply top dressing only in the amount indicated on the package. When caring for apple trees, it is important to follow the order – first, abundant watering, and then top dressing.
Fertilizing with fresh manure is strictly prohibited, as you can burn the roots.
At any stage of caring for apple trees, remember that how well you prepare your garden for the coming winter in the fall depends not only on its safety, but also on the quantity and quality of the crop next year.
Loosening the soil
An important process for caring for apple trees is loosening the soil under the trees. This is necessary in order to enrich the earth with oxygen and ensure full access of fertilizers and moisture to the roots. After all, the root system will have to restore balance in just a month and stock up on nutrients for the winter.
This event should be carried out after the second feeding. You need to loosen the soil carefully, trying not to damage the roots. Forks are best suited for this purpose.
Water the apple trees abundantly the day before loosening. Carefully dig the soil within a radius of 1-1,5 meters from the trunk with a pitchfork.
Autumn top dressing and loosening is a kind of gratitude to your fruit trees for the tasty and fragrant fruits that they gave you in the fall.
Trunk cleaning and trimming
The next stage of sanitary work on caring for apple trees is autumn pruning of branches and cleaning of trunks.
You have to clean the trunks well from lichens, moss, growths, old, cracking bark, as well as cut off all unnecessary branches, process open cuts and damaged areas.
Prepare the necessary tools and materials. To clean the trunks of apple trees, you will need: a large piece of film or rags and a plastic spatula. Do not forget about personal protective measures: be sure to wear plastic goggles and cloth gloves.
If you installed “trapping belts” in the garden, they must be removed before starting work, taken out of the garden and burned.
Before you start cleaning apple trees, you should make sure that the stems are wet. It is advisable to clean them immediately after rain. But if autumn is stingy with precipitation, then the trunks need to be well moistened so that the bark becomes soft and pliable.
Spread an oilcloth around the apple tree. With a plastic spatula, very carefully remove all unnecessary: pieces of moss, lichen, old, cracked bark. This procedure is very important for trees. Thus, you block access for numerous insects and pests that like to settle down for the winter in hard-to-reach places. And the apple bark for them is an ideal place for wintering and breeding.
Now you can start pruning apple trees.
Young apple trees undergo “weak” pruning in autumn. That is, only damaged, dry and diseased branches are cut out. Gardeners are also advised to take a closer look at how even young shoots grow. Strongly curved ones should be ruthlessly cut out. In addition to sanitization, you can form a crown of young apple trees. Such pruning should be carried out during the annual autumn care of seedlings up to 4-5 years of age.
Adult apple trees are subjected to deeper pruning. In autumn, fruit trees need to be rejuvenated to increase yields. In addition to defective branches, you need to cut out the third part of the crown. In addition, be sure to thin out the top of the apple trees so that each branch receives sufficient sunlight.
Immediately after cleaning and pruning, all cleared debris and cut branches should be immediately removed and burned to prevent the spread of disease and spores.
Open cuts, cracks, wounds must be treated immediately to prevent the possibility of infection. As an antiseptic, you can use:
- Clay talker;
- garden var;
- “RanNet” and other means for processing slices.
It is very important to finish these activities at least 3-4 weeks before the expected frost. Best of all, if you finish cleaning the trunks and pruning before the end of September, in order to have time to finish the rest of the apple tree care in October. All sections should dry out and tighten until the first frost.
Pruning apple trees in the fall is a very important step in garden care. Thanks to this event, the immunity of your fruit trees will grow, they will become more resistant to various diseases and pests.
Spraying trees
Beginning gardeners carry out disinfection activities mainly in the spring, bypassing the autumn treatment. But spraying apple trees in the fall is an equally important procedure.
Many insects and pests lay their larvae and eggs precisely under the bark of trees or in small cracks, or find reliable shelter there for the winter. In order to destroy insects and their numerous offspring, as well as to protect apple trees from possible infection with various diseases, spraying should not be postponed until spring.
Spraying can be carried out 5-7 days after pruning apple trees. Now that the crop is harvested and sap flow slows down in the apple trees, you can safely use concentrated and enhanced preparations for disinfection.
Most often, apple trees are sprayed with urea or copper sulfate. The preparations must be diluted in accordance with the instructions on the package. Immediately before starting work, do not forget about the methods of personal protection when working with chemicals.
Specialty stores offer a wide range of garden care products for treating and spraying fruit trees. But it is worth noting that many of them are highly toxic and can cause permanent damage to your trees. Therefore, before buying, familiarize yourself with its composition and environmental impact.
Before spraying apple trees, be sure to check the weather forecast. On the day of processing and the next 2-3 days, there should be dry, calm weather so that all your work is not washed away by rain.
After processing, at least 7-10 days must pass before it will be possible to proceed to the next stage – whitewashing apple trees in the fall.
Autumn Whitewash
Contrary to popular belief, apple trees need to be whitened not only in spring, but also in autumn. The main function of autumn whitewashing is not only to destroy hordes of insects, but also to protect fruit trees from sunburn, to which they are most often exposed in winter. Dark brown and black areas of the bark attract the sun’s rays. A bright, blinding reflection from the white snow causes lesions on the trunks.
Try not to skip this point when caring for apple trees in the autumn, because the results will not appear immediately, but after a rather long period of time.
At first, these small burnt areas are almost invisible, but over time they become larger, causing irreversible processes: gradually the yield drops, the tree becomes weaker and soon dies completely. To prevent this from happening, apple trees simply need to be whitewashed in the fall.
You can prepare the whitening composition yourself. And you can use solutions for whitewashing trees, in a wide range presented on store shelves.
Whatever composition you use, take note of a few tips:
- Apple trees should be whitewashed in autumn in dry weather. And it is desirable that the forecast be favorable for the next few days.
- Lime-based whitening compounds are well suited for whitewashing adult apple trees. But when caring for young apple trees, it is better to use chalk-based whitewashing solutions so as not to burn the young bark.
- When preparing a whitewash solution, keep in mind that the thicker its consistency, the better for the trees.
- Before whitewashing, choose the right brush. Its width should be equal to the width of the trunk.
- When whitewashing apple trees, it is important to process not only boles, but also skeletal branches to a height of 25-30 cm from the base.
- By adding “Kreolin” or “Knockdown” to the whitening composition, you will protect the apple trees from the attacks of rodents and hares.
A few days after whitewashing, you can start mulching.
Mulching
Not every gardener pays due attention to this stage of caring for apple trees, believing that they will quite safely endure winter frosts even without it. But the fact is that mulching helps to retain moisture, protects the trunks and root system from freezing. It is especially important to mulch young seedlings that are not even five years old.
As a mulching material, you can use peat or spruce branches. It is undesirable to use when mulching:
- Mullein or fresh manure – they will burn the lower part of the trunk and roots.
- Leaves. Wet or rotten foliage is the best place for wintering and breeding of insects, as well as a likely source of infection.
- Hay or straw – they will become a haven for mice and other small rodents that will not fail to settle in the mulch and pretty spoil the bark and roots of trees.
The height of the mulching layer for mature trees should be at least 10-15 cm, for young apple trees – 20-25 cm. In the northern regions, with regular temperature drops below -35 ° C – 40 ° C, you can increase the height of the mulch to 30-35 cm.
Frost and rodent protection
At this stage of caring for apple trees, it is important to provide proper protection from low temperatures in the fall, and also to take measures so that in winter your trees are not attacked by hungry rodents and hares.
Experienced gardeners use spruce branches or sawdust as an excellent insulating material. Branches of pine and spruce can be laid around the trunk, or you can tie them so that they are not scattered during gusts of wind.
To protect against small rodents and hares, a chain-link mesh helps well. She needs to wrap apple trees to a height of up to a meter, and lay the empty space with sawdust or spruce branches.
Many gardeners wrap young seedlings of apple trees with rags or insulation to help them adapt to climatic conditions and protect them from freezing. Wrap height varies by region. In the central regions, a height of 40-50 cm will be enough. But in the northern regions, it is advisable to wrap young apple trees to a height of at least a meter.
For information on how to care for an apple tree in the fall, see the following video:
Conclusion
As you can see, there is nothing difficult in preparing fruit trees for winter. It is important to follow the sequence of work on caring for apple trees and adhere to the approximate schedule of events. The health and productivity of your apple orchard depends on how scrupulously and efficiently you approach this matter. The more attention and care you give to apple trees, the more generously they will thank you with a plentiful harvest of fragrant, ripe apples.