Care for Your Backyard Fruit

Backyard fruit is the talk of the town right now – or maybe talk of the garden. Gardeners are worried about trees that have yet to leaf out or bloom, about grapes that don’t seem to be developing, about leaves that look misshapen, and more.

Deciduous fruit trees need irrigation only once they flower and leaf out in spring.

Most of these concerns are a lot to do about nothing. Southern California had a late cold snap that set back some deciduous fruits like plums, apricots, and peaches by several weeks if not a month.

Water and fertilizer won’t change anything. Since dormant trees are basically sleeping, they won’t use the extra water or fertilizer, so there’s no point in offering it.

If your tree is truly bare, do a “scratch test.” Use your fingernail or the edge of your pruning shears to gently scratch away the paper-thin, outermost layer of bark on the smallest branches of the tree. If it is green beneath, the tree is alive. If it is brown, test some other branches including some larger branches nearer to the trunk. If there is no green under any of the bark, the tree could be dead. If you find any green, the tree is simply waiting for the right moment to break dormancy and flower or flush with leaves.

Curled leaves on stone fruits (plums, pluots, apricots, peaches, etc.) is evidence of a fungal infection we call peach leaf curl. It is too late in the year to treat peach leaf curl; instead spray the tree while it is dormant next winter.

If you haven’t already thinned young apples, pears, or stone fruits, do that now. When there are too many fruits for the tree to support, each fruit stays small. For larger fruits, thin young fruits to one every four to six inches along the branch. Collect and compost the fruits you remove.

Once deciduous fruit trees leaf out, its time to up the water and fertilizer. I prefer granular organic fruit tree fertilizers, always applied according label directions. For backyard fruits in containers, use half the recommended amount.

‘Sundowner’ apples ripening on the tree

I’ve seen grapevines that have just sprouted leaves, and some that have the beginnings of fruits. Grape vines are also deciduous and respond to cold, so some are also behind for this time of year. They will catch up, though fruits might ripen a little later than usual.

By the way, from late 1800s until the 1930s, San Diego County had a substantial vineyard and winery industry. Grapes were “dry grown” in those days, meaning vines were watered at planting, then only by rainfall. That tells you how drought tolerant these fruiting vines are.

The combination of Prohibition and Pierce’s Disease (transmitted to grapevines courtesy of the glassy-winged sharp shooter) brought San Diego’s early vineyards and winery industry to its knees.

Keep all fruiting plants well mulched with a three-inch thick layer of plant-based mulch. Start the mulch six to 12 inches away from the trunk. That ring of bare dirt keeps the trunk dry and protected from fungi or insect pests.

Grapes properly trained and pruned are beautiful as well as delicious

Please, don’t worry. Mother Nature has her own timetable. You’ll be eating homegrown backyard fruit soon enough. In the meantime, enjoy our episode, From Fruits to Nuts  to see how new kinds of fruit trees are bred and brought to market.

— Nan Sterman