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Top dressing of trees and shrubs in spring is the most important stage of care, on which the decorative qualities of plants, their growth and the amount of harvest depend. Perennial plants greatly deplete the soil, because from year to year they require nutrition. That is why it is important to fertilize the garden with special means several times a season. Adequate nutrition is the key to abundant flowering, dense ovaries and a generous harvest. In addition, regular top dressing minimizes the risk of infection of trees and shrubs, and is responsible for their health. The garden is fertilized for the first time in the year in early spring, then fertilizing is continued at a certain interval.
An approximate calendar for fertilizing fruit and berry crops will be proposed in this article. Here you can learn about fertilizer application rates, find recommendations on how best to feed certain fruit trees and shrubs in the spring.
Top dressing options
You can fertilize horticultural crops, as well as garden crops, with two types of preparations: mineral and organic. Since with the advent of spring and warming, growth is activated in any plants and vegetation is accelerated, it is at this time that they need a large amount of nutrition.
The most necessary component at this stage of development of fruit trees and shrubs is nitrogen. This substance is responsible for the growth of green mass, and it can be found both in mineral complexes and in organic fertilizers.
At the second stage of development, trees need potassium and phosphorus, because it is on these components that the number of ovaries depends, and hence the abundance of the future harvest.
The health of plants in the garden, as well as the quality and taste of fruits, are directly related to the content in the soil of elements such as:
- hydrogen;
- carbon;
- magnesium;
- calcium;
- sulfur;
- iron;
- copper;
- manganese;
- cobalt;
- boron.
A tree can find hydrogen with carbon directly in the soil or in the air, but with microelements everything is much more complicated – they are found in the right amount only in balanced mineral complexes.
This does not mean that the use of organics is inefficient. Vice versa, organic fertilizers are more preferable for fertilizing fruit trees and shrubs. But in order to benefit the garden, it is necessary to be able to correctly calculate the number and proportions of such dressings, because an excess of organic matter has a very bad effect on the condition of the trees.
In addition, it is not so easy to find organic fertilizers in the modern world: only rural residents have enough of them. Buying cow dung or bird droppings is not economically feasible, since these fertilizers are not cheap at all.
garden fertilization schedule
In order to navigate the timing of spring dressings, the gardener can look at the table below. However, even a beginner should understand that there are no exact dates in this matter: a lot depends on the climate in the region, weather conditions and the variety of trees and shrubs.
Not all fertilizing of the orchard is the same, on the contrary, each stage of tree fertilization has its own characteristics. The amount of nutrients and composition depend on many factors. There are the following main feeding of fruit and berry plants:
- fertilizer of adult fruit trees;
- top dressing of berry bushes;
- foliar or soil top dressing;
- fertilizing the soil when planting a tree or shrub;
- top dressing of seedlings and young plants;
- fertilizing the garden at different stages of vegetation (before flowering, during flowering and after flowering).
First fertilization of the garden with nitrogen
In early spring, the question of which fertilizers to choose for the garden is not worth it – at this time, all plants, without exception, need nitrogen. However the form of nitrogen-containing preparations can have a lot of options – for an individual plant, it is selected individually:
- Apple trees and pears best perceive nitrogen from urea (urea), humus, ammonium nitrate, bird droppings. After the flowering of these trees, superphosphate, potassium sulfate or other potassium fertilizer should be applied.
- Cherry and plum trees in early spring, you should feed the same urea or ammonium nitrate. While the cherries and plums are in bloom, bird droppings should be added. And at the end of flowering – compost, liquid manure or dry organic mixtures.
- Berry bushes it is desirable to fertilize with nitrophoska, potassium nitrate. In early spring, wood ash with urea can be added under the root of the shrub (half a glass of ash is mixed with three tablespoons of urea and this mixture is dissolved in a bucket of water). The composition of rotted manure and saltpeter saturates the soil well (a handful of saltpeter per bucket of manure).
When and how to fertilize
It is necessary to start feeding fruit trees and shrubs in early spring – in March. If by this time the snow has not completely melted, but the ground has already thawed a little, you can start feeding. It is not worth pouring fertilizers on frozen ground, until it thaws, most of the nitrogen will simply evaporate.
It is most convenient to use industrial soluble granules. They can simply be scattered directly on the ground or on the snow around the trunk (the soil must be dug up in the fall). Surface fertilizer is good because the melt water will gradually dissolve the granules, and the nutrients will begin to penetrate to the roots in a dosed manner.
You can reduce the radius – 50 cm will be quite enough for nitrogenous fertilizers, because the crown of old trees can be very large. It is within a radius of 50 cm from the trunk that most of the root endings are concentrated, which absorb nutrients.
An adult fruit tree will need about 100-120 grams of a nitrogenous mixture (this is 2-3 handfuls). A young tree or shrub needs to be fed with one handful of nitrogen – about 35-40 grams.
It is important to understand that any top dressing should be combined with regular soil moisture, because it is water that conducts fertilizer to the roots of the tree. In early spring, melt water is usually enough, but if there is no snow in the region, it will be necessary to water the plant before and after top dressing. When the garden is located on a slope, it is better to postpone the application of fertilizers a little, as melt water can simply wash them away.
Organic products are recommended for young seedlings and berry bushes. Urea, liquid manure or bird droppings are dissolved in water and the soil around the plant is watered with this composition. Under one young tree, you need to pour 4-5 liters of such a solution, and it is prepared in the following proportions:
- for 10 liters of water 300 grams of urea;
- 4 liters of liquid manure per bucket of water;
- 1,5 liters of liquid chicken manure per 10 liter bucket.
Fertilizing the garden in April
On warm April days, fruit trees begin to bloom, and young leaves appear on their shoots. During this period, plants are in dire need of potassium and phosphorus – these are the components that must be chosen for the second feeding of the garden.
But you need to use potassium and phosphorus in turn, it is better not to add them together. In the first half of April, the soil is fertilized with phosphorus compounds (superphosphate, for example). Fertilizer granules are recommended to be embedded in the soil near the trunk of a tree or at the roots of a shrub. An adult plant will need about 50-60 grams of phosphorus, and 30 grams will be enough for a young seedling.
It is not recommended to apply potassium under the trees in its pure form. It is better to use complex mixtures with this substance, such as potassium magnesia, potassium sulfate, potassium salt, furnace ash. For an adult tree, about 20-25 grams will be required, seedlings are fed with half the indicated dose.
At the end of April, when the fruit flowers fade, you can add organic matter. Herbal infusion or “green manure” is very effective at this stage of the growing season. To prepare it, take freshly cut grass and fill it with water. After that, the container with the infusion should be covered with a thick film, in which several holes should be made in advance. “Green fertilizer” should be infused for at least three weeks, and before use it is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10.
May fertilizers
With the advent of May comes the turn of the last spring top dressing of the garden. At this time, ovaries are formed on the trees and fruits are formed. The best fertilizer at this stage is organic matter: humus, compost, biohumus. If organic fertilizers are not available, mineral complexes with a slight predominance of nitrogen in the composition can be used.
The technology of the third feeding can have the following options:
- Small depressions are prepared in the soil around the trees, where fertilizer is placed.
- The mineral complex or organics are dug up together with the earth from the trunk circle.
- The soil under the plants is loosened in advance, then fertilizers are mixed with the ground.
- Organics or granules are mixed with mulch: straw, dry foliage, sawdust, peat.
Berry bushes bloom profusely in mid-May – it’s time to feed them with urea or liquid manure. To enhance the effect, you can add a little saltpeter or wood ash.
foliar nutrition
May is a great time for foliar feeding of trees or berry bushes. Nutrient solutions are prepared in the same way as described above, but the concentration of active substances must be reduced.
Leaves and young shoots absorb valuable mineral components faster, trees are well saturated. Spray plants should be early in the morning or in the evening, in cloudy weather. If foliar feeding is performed on a hot sunny day, burns are guaranteed to the plant.
Foliar garden fertilizer is convenient for summer residents who do not constantly live outside the city, but occasionally come to visit their site. Trees treated in this way will not have to be watered, which is necessary when organics or minerals are added under the root.
Conclusion
Spring fertilizer of the orchard is a vital necessity for most varieties and types of fruit and berry crops. Without sufficient nutrition, it is difficult to wait for a good harvest; fed trees resist diseases and pests better.
The gardener must draw up a rough feeding schedule for his plants, prepare a sufficient amount of suitable fertilizers. It is very important to correctly calculate the dose of fertilizer, correctly perform top dressing and do not forget about regular watering.