May Fruit Tree To Do List ⋆ Edible Backyard

May is the month to get prep’d for fruit + shelter + fun tree planting. A little bit of tree research goes such a long way! Do it!

As does my favourite stake + marinate, an easy, hands on way of working out what fruit tree goes where before ordering your trees in.

If you aren’t sheltered from prevailing/ battering winds as yet, make good shelter your priority. Leave the fruit till next year or even the year after that.

Leave some fruits for the birds and bees – say thanks. Share the bounty.

Protect Citrus + Avocados from Frost

Frost protection is super important for young citrus, avocados + other subtropicals when the temps dip below 10.

Here we’ve put a simple ring of leftover deer netting around a young lemon and laid the frost cloth over top. The structure is important because you don’t want the cloth rubbing the foliage all winter/ spring long. Get creative and use what you’ve got!

Here’s another idea for a simple frost shelter.

A Biological Spray

Falling leaves mark the end of a growth cycle and the beginning of winters rest. All those tiny openings left by detached leaves create a prime opportunity to protect your deciduous fruit trees with a biological spray.

A pre prune ponder

Hang out with your deciduous fruit trees this month to consider your winter pruning.

What a difference this virtual run through makes on pruning day! Regardless of whether you are full of confidence or a beginner, we all prune better by far when we are connected to our trees.

Go for a tool free wander this month and consider what shoots you will tie down in spring, and what cuts you might make (if any) in winter. Here’s a useful checklist.

Other odd jobs

• Get the last of the apples in and stored away.
• If you were training branches to the horizontal on any of your deciduous fruit trees, take the ties off to prevent damage. The wood will be insistent now and the limb set in place.
• Check all stakes and ties to be sure none are broken, wobbly or rubbing. I love these kinds of jobs, making everyone comfy and putting things to rights.
• For those of you who don’t live in a high wind, give one/ two year old fruit trees a wriggle to see if their roots are holding them fast. If so, remove the stakes. Independence is good – it makes stronger trees in the long run.