Planting apple trees in spring: how to do it right?

With the arrival of spring, the owners of suburban areas begin to think about expanding and updating the garden. If you choose the right time, the planted apple tree will take root and will soon delight you with the fruits.

Content:

• When to get started
• Preparing a place for an apple tree
• Sapling planting technology
• Experienced gardeners recommendations

When to get started?

Advantage planting apple trees in spring in the fact that before the arrival of the cold winter, the plants have time to get stronger. It is much easier for them to survive a strong drop in temperature.

Having decided on a spring planting, do not delay. We must have time to do everything before bud break. There is a high probability that the seedlings will lose their properties due to a sharp increase in temperature. This is especially true for areas prone to early drought.

In mid-latitudes, gardening work on planting apple trees begins in mid-April.

In colder northern regions, this will have to wait until early May. To check the readiness of the soil, you need to dig it with a shovel. If the bayonet has entered the soil without much effort, it's time to work. You cannot wait for the start of sap flow and complete thawing of the soil. If you plant a tree late, it will not have enough moisture. It will hurt a lot and lag behind in growth. The bright May sun will burn the tender leaves, and the apple tree will wither.

In wet ground it is much easier for a seedling to root... Having delayed planting, you will have to regularly water the young apple tree. Choosing the right time for spring planting of apple trees increases the likelihood of a favorable outcome.

Preparing a place for an apple tree

When deciding on a site for seedlings, you need to pay attention to the presence of other plants outside it. Their role is to protect the delicate culture from the northern winds.

It is not necessary to set aside the entire area of ​​the garden for apple trees. Otherwise, after a few years, the house will be in solid shadow. Often they are located along the perimeter of the site at a distance of 4 m from its border. They try to avoid the south side.

The clay soil does not allow water to pass through: in such conditions, the seedlings will wither. To avoid this, the surface level is raised by 0.8 m.

It turns out a kind of hill. It is made from a compost heap sprinkled with sand or peat. If there is groundwater in the surface layer of the soil, it will interfere with planting. An obstacle is created to the central root that prevents it from growing deeper, forcing it to branch along the top layer of the soil. For this, broken bricks or stones are laid at the bottom of the landing pit.

The planting site is prepared in the fall or a week before the planned planting in the spring. A planting hole is more than just a root pit. For an apple tree, it is a whole nutritional complex. To provide the culture with the necessary substances, you will have to work.

Procedure:

1. Dig a hole deep about 70 cm.For columnar varieties - 50 cm. The diameter of the recess is about 60 cm.
2. Drain if necessary.
3. In the middle of the recess, fix the stake so that it rises 30-40 cm above the ground. If you burn the underground part of the mount, it will not rot.
4. Mix the extracted soil with peat, rotted manure, compost or humus. This nutrition will be enough for the seedling for several years.
5. Fill the pit with the prepared substrate to the brim, with a slide.
6. Moisten the soil well.

Preparing a planting pit in a suitable place is an important point on which the future health of the apple tree depends.

Sapling planting technology

Best of all, biennial plants with a height of 60-70 cm with a guide (extension of the trunk) take root. They should have at least 3 shoots that diverge at appropriate angles. The length of each is at least 50 cm. Sufficiently developed annual seedlings also root well. These plants have no lateral branches. They need to be booked immediately after landing.

Pruning is the key to successful crown development.

The root system of the selected apple tree should consist of at least three skeletal branches 30-35 cm long and more. Damaged shoots are cut to healthy tissue.

Tree planting technology:

• A few hours before starting work, lower the rhizome into water.
• In a previously prepared hole, make a hole of such a size so that the root system can easily be located in it.
• Deepen the seedling, carefully distributing the roots. The hammered stake should have turned out to be on the south side of the trunk.
• Pour warm water over them.
• Without waiting for moisture absorption, sprinkle the root system with soil.
• After waiting a little, tamp the soil with a shovel.
• Tie the seedling to the support.

Water the hole with water until the soil no longer absorbs moisture. It will take about 40 liters of water. After that, the seedling is not watered for about 7 days.

When burying the plants, make sure that the junction of the trunk and rhizomes rise 4-5 cm above the ground. If an earthen wall is formed around the tree and sprinkled with sawdust, the rate of moisture evaporation will decrease. Healthy, well-chosen and planted young the apple tree will definitely take root in the spring.

Experienced gardeners recommendations

Apple tree - quite unpretentious culture, but requires a good attitude, attention and care from the owner. Tips to help even novice gardeners get a harvest:

• If the seedling is not secured, it may tilt to the side. Reliable construction - three pegs (height 2/3 of the seedling), connected by jumpers.
• Cannot be brought into the planting hole fresh manure or compost... These substances will burn the rhizome and provoke the development of black cancer.
• The underground part of the tree may dry out. To prevent this from happening, the roots are treated with an earthen talker. A little clay, fresh mullein is added to it. Prepare the mixture just before planting.
• There is no need to alternate apple trees with other fruit crops. A tree planting plan will make planting easier.
• The seedlings should be kept at least 3 m away from cables, gas pipelines, pipes and underground utilities.
• Apple trees like the southwest and southeast.

If there is not enough space for the plants, their immunity will decrease. Weak apple trees will not resist diseases, they will undergo an active invasion of pests. Can't be neglected lime whitewashing of seedling trunks during spring planting. The bases of the branches are also processed. In this way, the plant is saved from parasites.

Having studied all the subtleties of spring planting of apple trees, even novice gardeners will achieve success.

The apple tree is one of the most popular crops on the backyard. A properly planted tree will delight you with the first harvests in a few years.

More information about planting an apple tree can be found in the video.