It is impossible to imagine a good garden without an apple tree.
Fragrant ripe fruits and a healthy tree - this is what every gardener takes care of.
And for this you need to make a lot of effort.
Each tree requires special care, on which the quantity of the crop depends.
Care must be taken from early spring, not losing precious time.
How and why take care of an apple tree in the spring?
With the advent of spring, the summer resident has many worries. You need to start gardening as soon as the temperature has risen above 0 degrees. What work to do during this period?
1. Digging up an apple tree.
2. Sanitary and formative pruning of the crown.
3. Preventive spraying from pests.
4. Feeding.
The future harvest directly depends on spring events. Often, from inappropriate care, inexperienced gardeners young apple tree seedlings die.
Why dig in apple tree care in the spring?
In early spring, you need to clear the snow around the apple tree, trampling it well. It is not worth neglecting this procedure, it helps prevent damage to the tree by mice. Hungry rodents in the spring spoil the fruit bark, which affects tree health and productivity. Even if there is a lot of snow, the apple tree needs to be unearthed. You can lay out bait with rodent venom under a tree in the fall.
Digging and trampling snow saves not only from rodents. Young trees suffer from a thaw when snow breaks off fragile branches. By removing snow before the onset of heat, you can save the seedling from many diseases that develop at the site of damage.
How to properly care for the crown of an apple tree in spring
Proper pruning of the crown provides a good harvest, large fruits and tree health.
Pruning young and adult apple trees
Pruning should be done in March or early April until the tree has started to grow, but the buds are already swollen. In adult trees, a part of last year's sprouted branches is cut, the remaining ones are shortened. This procedure stimulates the growth of new flower buds and increases the yield of apple trees. Old branches need to be replaced by young ones, which will reduce the likelihood of overloading the tree with fruits and protect it from diseases.
It is necessary to ruthlessly cut out all branches growing inside the crown. It is important to monitor the thickening of the tree and timely remove the three-year branches.
It is important to remember that the upper branches do not give a significant yield, they are intended for foliage and are crown-forming. If the apple tree is more than seven years old, then you need to cut the top of the tree. Young seedlings do not need to remove the upper branches.
The first rule in the spring formation of the crown of the apple tree is that the smaller the growth of young branches, the stronger the pruning.
Of course, the first time it is not always possible to achieve positive results. But you need to look at the tree, monitor its development and health. The formation of the crown should be carried out every spring throughout the life of the apple tree.
Pruning apple-tree
If miniature apple trees grow in the garden - this is not a reason to neglect spring pruning. The procedure must be carried out taking into account all the features of the tree.
Using the advice of experienced gardeners, you can form a good tree and get an excellent harvest. The principle of spring pruning is to remove as many branches as possible, ensuring good growth of the remaining ones. There is nothing complicated about this.
The formation process must begin before the sap flow begins. First you need to know what the cut should be in order to protect the tree from disease. The correct cut will drag on faster without injuring the apple tree.
A significant part of the branch needs to be cut, leaving only up to 4 buds, from which strong fruit-bearing branches will develop. If you cut only a third part, then weak shoots will develop, the amount of yield will decrease. By just pinching the tops, the gardener provokes the growth of a large number of weakened branches on which the fruits will not develop.
Scheme of the correct pruning of the columnar apple tree
The top of a columnar apple tree is cut off only if it is frozen in the winter. With regular spring pruning, the apical kidney is not cut.
Apple Care - Spring Spraying
It is not always possible to avoid the use of pesticides in the garden. High-quality pruning and good fertilizers do not guarantee an excellent harvest, because the presence of pests adversely affects the apple tree.
Processing is carried out in several stages, starting preventive spraying in March. When buds open, all treatments are stopped.
• First, you need to clean the trunk of the tree from the old bark and carry out pruning. Then spray the crown, the trunk circle and whitewash the trunk of the apple tree and skeletal branches with a lime mortar.
• In early April, when the buds were swollen, but the flowers had not yet blossomed, it was necessary to carry out the treatment with biological preparations from the apple beetle. The use of chemicals reduces the number of pollinator insects on the tree.
• In the second half of May, when the fruits begin to form, spraying is carried out with preparations from fruit pests and leafworms.
For spraying use copper sulfate, Bordeaux mixture. From the beginning of spring to flowering, you can spray with the preparation "Trichlorol-5", after flowering, you can use karbofos.
What spring dressings to use in caring for an apple tree
If you do not use any fertilizers in the early spring, you will only dream of a good harvest. Professionals advise to feed, which regulate the growth of green mass, develop good seedling immunity and form a good crop.
When the snow is completely gone, you need to dig up the earth around the apple tree and sprinkle with ammonium nitrate. Granules will gradually dissolve and soak up the soil.
Remember, you can’t dig up the soil under the column-shaped apple tree. Such a procedure will violate its surface roots and lead to the death of the tree. The soil under the sapling is carefully loosened, all weeds are harvested.
Springtime is a great time for nitrogen top dressing. Good effect on the growth of the apple tree by watering with a solution of bird droppings, mulching with peat or compost. When working with bird droppings, it is necessary to observe the concentration of the solution and proceed according to the method "better to underfeed than to overfeed."
Nitrogen fertilizers include:
urea;
humus;
ammonium nitrate;
nitroammophosk.
Fertilize on wet soil or after rain. You need to do this around the entire circumference of the crown.
During flowering, seedlings need to be fed with urea. Young trees are especially demanding for fertilizing. They are fertilized three times with a frequency of half a month.
For the second stage of dressing, it is good to use:
urea
ash;
manure;
potassium sulfate.
Complex mineral fertilizers also give good results during spring feeding. They contain all the substances necessary for the growth and development of the apple tree.
During the period of fruit formation, it is worth feeding the apple trees to form large fruits.
You can stimulate a good harvest by the following dressings:
herbal infusion;
sodium humate.
Herbal infusion is prepared from freshly cut grass without seeds, which is placed in a container and filled with water. The grass is left to roam for about two weeks. Once the liquid has a dark color and a specific smell, it can be used to nourish apple trees. Ready slurry is bred at a ratio of 1:10 and trees are watered.
To summarize
In fact, spring care for apple trees is simple. But its timeliness provides a stable harvest every year. Following all the rules, you can grow large and juicy fruits on each tree.
All stages of spring work in the garden should go sequentially. Use chemical preparations strictly according to the instructions, so as not to harm the trees.
You can see the fruits of your labor very soon. Trees will look healthy, and enjoy harvests. There are no barren trees, there are owners who are inattentive to their garden.
