How to Care for Your Fruit Trees in the East Bay: Summer Tips for a Bountiful Harvest

• When managing growth, thinning cuts can be made at an angle to remove lateral branches starting at their point of origin
• Be sure to avoid cutting the branch collar, as this can cause damage or lead to decay
• If you want to encourage growth, "top" vertical branches to provide even sunlight throughout the branches

• If you want to produce heavier, earlier crops, leave horizontal branches uncut
• Young trees require heavier pruning to help encourage growth, avoiding the smaller top horizontal branches
• Focus on pruning the top of the tree without being too aggressive to provide more light to lower branches

Fruit Tree Fertilization in Summer

Late summer fertilization in August and September is more productive than winter applications. Nitrogen (N) is the nutrient most commonly distributed to avoid fruit tree issues such as poor growth and smaller leaf production. However, fertilizer should be applied based on observations of the tree's health, such as leaf color, fruit yield, fruit quality, shoot growth, wood production, etc.

The common applications of N are as follows:

• 3 lb. 33-0-0
• 5 lb. 21-0-0
• 7 lb. 16-16-16

However, it is always best to consider composts and green manure crops as a healthier way to provide nutrition and maintain healthier soil. This might include one of the following:

• 35 lb. of rabbit manure
• 70 lb. steer or cow manure
  

Common fruit tree insects and mites are often controlled by other types of insects. If there are issues in your area with mites or aphids, spraying is done in the dormant months to avoid killing beneficial insects that eat these pests. This also reduces the use of harmful chemicals on your fruit trees.

However, in the summer months, it's essential to watch for signs of common pests that require treatment, including:

• Mites: Mites cause a webbed or stippled look on leaves and high leaf and blossom drop rates. These tiny spiders are hard to spot, often leading to symptoms appearing once the damage is done.
• Aphids: Aphids damage foliage while feeding and can also cause shoot distortion. They are most prominent in apples but can be present on other fruit trees. They are also easier to spot, appearing as little white dots on leaves.
• Redhumped Caterpillar: This highly destructive caterpillar, which prefers plum and prune trees, is especially destructive to younger trees. It can strip a tree of its foliage, so inspecting fruit trees for larva clusters and removing them by hand can avoid damage.

When it comes to fruit tree diseases, using the proper sprays during the dormant season will prevent diseases such as:

• Bacterial canker
• Shothole disease/black sooty mold
• Brown rot
• Coryneum blight
• Peach leaf curl
• Apple/pear scab
• Blossom blast
• Fire blight

As a result, summer treatments are related to signs and symptoms of the disease, such as leaf discoloration, dead areas of foliage, odd growths like cankers, powdery residue or curly thick leaves, and dark fungal growths on branches. In this case, a professional is required to prune the trees carefully.

Weed Management in the Summer

Weeds can significantly impact tree growth because they compete for soil moisture and nutrients and take up physical space, affecting tree health. Some weed species might also use trees like a "trellis," leading to the strangulation of young trees.



The best way to manage weeds is to apply organic mulch to make it difficult for weeds to take root. Using a weed cloth barrier below the mulch is even more effective, so you don't have to be as diligent in the summer months to ensure the mulch maintains its thickness.