Content
Fruit trees require special preparation before the winter cold, because frost can destroy them forever.
To protect your trees, you need to know what it means to prepare apple trees for winter. This article is devoted to this issue, after studying which it will not be difficult for anyone to carry out the necessary procedures with their garden.
Preparatory activities
To determine whether the apple tree has been prepared for winter in the fall, you need to assess the condition of the tree by external signs.
The apple tree is ready for cold weather if:
- The tree fell in time;
- Young shoots are woody;
- The growth of the tree has stopped.
If this does not happen or this process is moving too slowly, you need to help the apple tree.
To figure out how to prepare apple trees for winter, you need to focus on several parameters. The first thing you need to think about is a good feeding fruit trees in autumn.
Fertilize:
- Potassium.
- Phosphorus.
Fertilizers are poured into the ground at the root areas, but the most effective way is to irrigate the crown itself in early autumn.This can be done using a complex fertilizer that contains two necessary elements. Fertilizing in the garden is done once a year, cultivating the entire area under the garden.
It is known that the root system of a tree can withstand temperatures up to 15 degrees below zero. It is clear that such temperatures do not occur under snow, but in the absence of snow, it is quite possible. Do not rush to get upset, because everything can be corrected if you notice in time the lag in the development of the apple tree in the spring and properly care for it.
Cleaning the bark and cleaning the area
It is very important to take proper care apple tree in autumn, preparing for winter will help to better preserve it in cold weather.
You will have to try hard, because preparing apple trees for winter means a lot.
So, first you need to cover the areas around the tree. Then we begin to carefully chip away the bark that is falling away from the tree. This is necessary in order to protect the tree from parasites - insects that live in the cracks between the bark. In addition, all diseases penetrate into the middle of the apple tree through these same cracks. You need to remove the bark in small sections, after wearing gloves and safety glasses to protect yourself from small chips. Only mature fruit trees require cleaning; preparing young apple trees for winter does not require removing the top ball.
It will be necessary to collect all the chips and pieces so that no disease or bacteria spreads throughout the garden.
Next comes the whitewashing of fruit trees. This is done in order to kill all microorganisms, as well as to protect them from the influence of natural factors (sunlight, frost). Many gardeners ignore this rule, but if the tree is not prepared, the chances of surviving the winter are significantly reduced.
Hardening of trees
If you know how to properly prepare apple trees for winter, the trees will easily survive it. Hardening is a very important stage, because gardens suffer the most from sudden temperature changes. To do this kind of work, you need to remove a ball of earth 5 cm high around the trunk and place it in a warm place until frost sets in. This is how the apple tree is prepared for winter in the fall, when the temperature is not yet too low. When a small layer of soil is removed from the root system, a gradual adaptation to the cold occurs.
Caring for an apple tree in the fall and preparing for winter will not work without mulching. It is carried out using any bulk material that is available. It is better to carry out such work in November. Young apple trees require slightly different care. They are mulched with a layer of peat up to 5 cm thick. This is done in order to protect young trees from frost, especially if it comes before the snow appears.
Autumn watering of apple trees
An equally important factor for successful wintering of fruit trees is sufficient moisture in the roots. Therefore, preparing young apple trees for winter, just like perennial trees, requires abundant watering. The amount of water depends on the maturity of the tree. For young seedlings, 40-50 liters will be enough, while an adult apple tree requires up to 200 liters of water for hydration. You need to water the root areas, which should be dug up by this time. Water must be poured in several passes so that the soil has time to become saturated with moisture. Under no circumstances should water be allowed to flow only along the tree trunk, because the main task is to moisturize the young roots for the winter.
Rodent protection
Preparing apple trees for winter has one more stage - measures to protect against rodents. To protect trees from mice and similar animals, you can wrap the trunk with protective materials.
It could be:
- Mulch paper;
- Tol;
- Ruberoid;
- Reed;
- Sunflower trunk.
The main thing is to know how to do this correctly: it is necessary that the material fits tightly to the tree trunk.
It is very important to do this procedure on time, because if you wrap the trunk in advance, you can even harm it. Therefore, you need to know how to properly prepare apple trees for winter so as not to reduce their winter hardiness. It is necessary to remove the wrapping material in time in early spring, otherwise the apple tree may contract other diseases.
Spraying trees before wintering
This procedure is generally considered a preventive measure rather than a disease fight, but nevertheless you should not skip this stage.
The most suitable time for it is October. Trees are sprayed to combat fungus. It would be ideal to spray apple trees after the leaves have fallen, when the solution can reach the trunk and branches in sufficient quantities, where the disease usually manifests itself. Trees are treated with copper sulfate.
To prepare the solution you need:
- 10 l. water;
- 250-300 gr. vitriol.
First, the substance is diluted in a small amount of hot water, and then diluted in the rest of the liquid.
This procedure is carried out before whitewashing with lime and before protection from rodents. Before preparing young seedlings for winter, you need to reduce the concentration of the solution.
Wrapping up for the winter
As a rule, this is the preparation of apple tree seedlings for winter. But sometimes skillful summer residents protect all fruit trees that do not tolerate frost well in this way.
You can cover it in several ways:
- Trampling snow around an apple tree.
- Using shields made from small boards.
- Spruce spruce branches.
It is very important to protect apple tree seedlings from frost, because their bark is not yet as strong and winter-resistant as that of a mature tree.
To make your own shields for wintering trees, you need very little - just a few dozen small boards and roofing felt. We knock the boards tightly together and cover them with roofing felt or roofing felt. Then we cover the trees with a shield. Without such preparation of young seedlings for winter, it will be very difficult to preserve them until spring.
Features of training young animals
Since young trees are not yet very hardy, they are prepared for the cold in a slightly different way.
You need to familiarize yourself with how to prepare young apple trees for winter:
- It is best to wrap each of them in paper or burlap, because their bark is still too soft.
- The layer of peat or sawdust should be made much thicker than for a mature tree.
- Under no circumstances should the preparation of apple tree seedlings, namely the whitening of trunks, be done with lime. Seedlings are whitened with chalk or garden whitewash.
- Only winter-hardy varieties can be planted, otherwise they will not survive frost.
These are the basic requirements that a summer resident must follow before preparing apple tree seedlings for winter.
It is advisable to help your trees survive the winter. After all, not all apple trees can withstand frost and cold on their own. And, believe me, they will thank you with a good harvest in the fall. The main thing is to do everything according to the recommendations of experts in this matter, so as not to harm your garden.
