Establishing a garden involves planting fruit trees, choosing the right varieties, and taking into account that some species may compete with each other. You also need to pay attention to the biological requirements of fruit trees and consider that their care will require periodic pruning.
Lot layout
Garden cannot be formed in a small area. Fruit trees are planted, as a rule, after shade-tolerant shrubs. The distance between adjacent plants should not be less than 4.5 m. If there are buildings nearby, you need to step back from them by at least 3-4 m so that the root system does not damage the foundation, and comply with fire regulations.
It is better to protect the place under the garden from strong winds. Bookmarking is best done on soils with deep groundwater, as the latter makes it difficult for trees to grow.
Requirements for light and heat
Fruit trees and shrubs can be alternated in many cases. This is duethe fact that most of the latter are shade-tolerant.
Light-loving trees and shrubs include:
- rowanberry;
- pear;
- apricot;
- sea buckthorn;
- quince;
- peach;
- plum;
- cherries.
Shade-tolerant include the following:
- rosehip;
- barberry;
- dogwood;
- apple tree;
- viburnum;
- blackberry;
- raspberries;
- hazel;
- honeysuckle;
- black elderberry;
- currant;
- gooseberries.
Heat-loving crops should not be tried to grow in the conditions of the central zone, and even more so in Siberia. The crop may not have time to ripen, and in harsher conditions, the trees may die.
Time to plant fruit trees
It can be held in autumn and spring, depending on the meteorological conditions prevailing in a particular place.
In the southern regions, it is better to carry out autumn planting. In the nursery, seedlings are finishing growing, they are preparing for winter. After disembarking during the period of warm autumn, they have time to take root, the wounds begin to heal, callus (influxes) form. During spring planting under these conditions, droughts are observed, so fruit trees do not take root well and often get sick.
There is practically no spring drought in the central and northern regions. Therefore, it is preferable to plant fruit trees in this season. The autumn execution of this operation can lead tofreezing of trees (mainly stone fruits). Or they may suffer during the winter desiccation.
In the Urals and Siberia, with sufficient snow cover, trees are planted in autumn, and in case of insufficient thickness and absence of dry winds in early spring - in spring.
Planting is carried out when the tree is at rest (in the absence of the beginning of growth or its termination). Autumn planting should end about a month before the onset of stable frosts, in spring - in the first 5 days after the start of field work before the buds swell.
All preparatory work is done in the fall.
Planting technique
A hole is dug into which a stake is placed, having a length of about 1.2-1.4 m, which will prevent the planted trees from twisting, and also protect them from the wind. A mound of soil is poured around the stake 3 - 5 days before planting.
The root neck of the tree when planting should be flush with the ground surface. In order to protect the barrel from burns, it is placed on the north or northeast side of the stake.
The required planting depth is determined by the landing rail. It is better to raise the tree a little higher than it, since the soil in the pit will settle. On light-textured soils, it is raised by 3-4 cm, on heavy soils - by 5-6 cm.
Landing should be done by two people. One of them spreads the roots and compacts the soil, which the second pours out. After backfilling by 20-25 cm, the soil is compacted, then it is filled up to the edge and this operation is repeated again. From autumn tothe soil is better to make manure.
After filling the hole around the tree, make a hole at the same level with its edges. Its width must be no less than that of the pit.
After planting, the tree is watered at the rate of 2-3 buckets for each, trying to evenly distribute it over the hole, which will ensure the same subsidence of the soil. After this operation, the last one is mulched.
The planted tree is tied to a stake at a height of 15-20 cm from the soil surface and under the figure-eight crown. If it is necessary to align crooked trees, it is applied in several places. To prevent damage from friction between the trunk and the stake, you can put some kind of soft material.
Growing a tree from cuttings
Growing seedlings of fruit trees requires certain skills and knowledge. Sometimes cuttings are bought instead. In this case, you need to grow a full-fledged tree from them yourself.
Seedlings are grown in three stages:
- occulants;
- one-year-olds;
- two-year-olds.
Oculants
Specific rootstocks are selected for a particular fruit tree. Under autumn plowing, 2 - 5 centners of manure per hundred square meters and 0.6 - 1 kg of phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are applied.
Rootstocks are planted in early spring. They are placed according to several schemes when growing one-year-olds and two-year-olds:
75 x 20 cm - unbranched annuals;
85 x 25 cm - crowned of the same development cycle;
90 x 30 cm - two-year-old pome.
Rootstocks should have a well-developed root system. The thickness of the root collar should be 6 - 10 mm.
Before planting, the roots of seedlings are cut to 15 - 20 cm, and of clonal rootstocks - up to 5 - 10 cm.
Rootstocks are cut after planting at a height of 20 - 25 cm, removing excess branches. It is necessary to periodically carry out inter-row cultivation, in June to carry out top dressing with nitrogen fertilizers.
At this stage, budding is carried out. It is carried out during the backlog of the bark on the rootstock and the ripening of the shoots on the mother trees. Closer to the north, budding is carried out until mid-August (starting from July 20-25), and in the south - until early September.
Seedlings are budded to a height of 3 - 5 cm, clonal rootstocks - by 15 - 25 cm. After this operation, the soil is loosened.
First, pear seedlings are budded, then seedlings and clone rootstocks of apple, cherry, cherry, last of all - quince, peach, apricot, cherry plum, almond.
Cutting rootstocks
It is carried out before the start of sap flow in early spring. The cut is performed with a sharply sharpened secateurs 1–2 mm above the grafted eye with an inclination of up to 20 °. Its surface is treated with a water emulsion with the addition of a fungicide or garden pitch. It is advisable to install a peg near each oculant, to which the grafted shoot is tied. Stems are formed at the rootstock, which, when they reach 5 cm in length, are removed.
In the spring - at the beginning of summer, one-year-olds are fed with nitrogen at the rate of 0.15 - 0.2 kg of AI. per hundred.
Almond, apricot,peach, cherry, some varieties of apple trees, pears, plums form annuals with a crown. It is necessary to remove shoots that appear at a distance of 50 - 60 cm from the soil surface, breaking out or pinching and cutting into a ring at the end of summer.
Above this zone, several shoots are selected that have an angle of departure from the trunk of 45 - 60 degrees, the rest are pinched.
When grown in the central and northern regions, peach is formed in the form of a bush with a small stem or without it, due to the fact that such a plant is easier to cover for the winter, leaving side shoots from the lower buds.
To stimulate the development of similar stems in sweet cherries, weakly branching quince, plums, pears, apple trees, cut off the top of the seedling up to 20 cm so that branching is carried out 15 - 20 cm above the trunk, when it reaches a height of 0, 8 - 1 m.
Pruning seedlings
Same yearlings can be left to grow for another year. In this case, formative pruning of seedlings is carried out in the spring.
Until sap flow has begun, unbranched one-year-olds are crowned with a cut 20 - 25 cm higher than the stem length adopted for a particular breed. The cut is made on the kidney, which is directed to the side opposite the bend of the one-year-old. At the beginning of the growth of the shoots, they are all broken out, then the skeletal branches are isolated, the rest are pinched.
When a crown is formed in the spring, branches are cut out extending from the trunk at sharp angles in the trunk area and the rest are shortened.
In the end, only the top shoot is left, which, when it reaches 30 cm in height, is tied to a support for verticalgrowth.
Planting different trees side by side
Not all fruit plants are compatible. What fruit trees can be planted nearby? The walnut must be separated from other plantations at a distance of 18 meters.
Photos of fruit trees of different species are posted in the article.
You can grow nearby:
- plum and barberry;
- row of apple crops:
- cherries;
- plum;
- pear;
- quince.
The following are fruit trees that are best not planted nearby:
- apricot with cherry, peach and cherry;
- apple, pear, cherry - with cherry plum;
- apricot, pear, hawthorn - with cherry;
- pear - with cherries, barberries, cherry plums, sweet cherries, plums, raspberries;
- peach - with pear, cherry, apple, cherry;
- plum - with cherries, cherries, pears;
- apple tree - with raspberries, cherries, barberries, apricots;
- raspberry - with apple and pear.
Pruning fruit trees
It enhances the growth, development and fruiting of such plants. In addition, during its implementation, branches are removed that can harm the tree. For old ones, rejuvenating pruning is used to give the plant new strength.
It is mainly carried out in spring or autumn. In the latter case, pruning is carried out during mild winters. A sharp cold snap leads to freezing of the bark at the site of the former branch, as a result of which the tree may die. The most frequent pruning is needed for pome crops.
In closing
There are many fruit trees. Everyone chooses the best of them for himself, depending on the purposes of cultivation and tastes. Sometimes it is enough to buy a seedling and only feed and treat it from pests and diseases, subsequently carrying out regular pruning, and sometimes you need to get a stock from the cutting yourself. When growing fruit trees, you need to consider their compatibility with each other.
