← The orchard
H12-05 · Module 5 of 7 · Pages: 19 · Worksheets: 5
Orchard care: soil, feeding, water
The tree circle, mulch, compost and manure, water in a drought, fruit thinning and winter care — all done naturally and in moderation
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Whole series: The orchard, €39
In short
- For the first 3–5 years, keep a 1–2 m (3–6 ft) circle around the tree free of grass, under 5–10 cm of mulch.
- Feed with compost and well-rotted manure, in autumn or late winter, spread under the canopy, not against the trunk.
- Too much nitrogen gives lush leaves, water shoots, disease and fruit that stores poorly.
- Water rarely and generously: the critical times are 4–6 weeks after flowering and July–August.
- Thin the fruit in June: apples 1–2 per cluster, 15–20 cm (6–8 in) apart.
- Never goats in the orchard, sheep only with guarded trunks; hens yes, but on rotation.
What's inside
Chapters
- The soil under the canopy
- What a tree needs from the soil
- Feeding: compost, manure, wood ash
- Water: when, how much and how
- Thinning fruit
- Animals in the orchard
- Winter care
- Care through a tree's life
- Common mistakes
- Printable checklist
Worksheets
- Feeding calculator
- Drought water calculator
- Plan of circles and irrigation
- Care calendar
- Care log
Fields and checkboxes can be filled in with Adobe Acrobat Reader (desktop and mobile), and the calculator adds up by itself. Filling in may not work in some browsers. A print version comes with the screen PDF.
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