Did you know there are people out there who hate mulberries? I know a few, and I’m sure you do too. Personally, I love mulberries, and by the end of this article, you’ll have several reasons to reconsider and share your stance too.

Numbers can be deceiving, but apparently, there are many mulberry haters based on how many articles come up in a quick search.

Why all the mulberry loathing?

For starters, mulberries are considered messy trees when the fruit is at its ripest. Not only do they fall directly on the ground (from 40′ above), creating a squishy mess to walk on and hopefully not bring in the house, but they also splosh on the car window (or birds eat them and, well, you know the end result…), mulberries can also stain concrete.

Perhaps it’s our own misunderstanding of the mulberry that leads us to not wanting them in the landscape. This “problem” can easily be rectified by planting the mulberry in the right place and honoring its right to exist among the numerous other backyard plants – assuming you have a large yard, that is.

See, mulberries are a great survival food, not just for birds but for humans too. If you’ve never had the chance to eat them, you’re in for a real treat. All you have to do is plant your own tree.

Not next to the driveway, definitely not alongside the house. Once you find the perfect location for that new mulberry tree of yours, you’ll discover many benefits for decades to come.

Benefits to Planting Mulberry Trees

If you’re on the fence about whether or not to add a mulberry tree to your property, let’s look at a handful of reasons to appreciate them. In the end, you’ll have more information to make your decision.

Naturally, you’ll have to consider if you have enough space in your yard to grow one or more, as mulberries can grow quite tall. We’ll get to the recommended growing conditions right after their berry-bursting benefits.

1. Mulberries are fast-growing trees.

The large white mulberry (Morus alba) is native to northern China, and it’s a stunning tree. We had a single specimen on our homestead in Ópusztaszer, Hungary, that reliably dropped delicious fruit every summer.

It was a 40-foot-tall one, growing girthier and taller with each passing year, till at one point, we needed to cut out the main leader and trim the limbs back to a more manageable and safe size.

In the States, the white mulberry is considered an invasive (though naturalized) tree and is said to out-compete the red mulberry (Morus rubra), which is native to the states.

When considering where to plant a mulberry, you need to keep in mind: as above, so below. If you see a lot of quick growth on top, it’ll be there unseen in the soil too. For that reason, be sure to plant away from foundations, septic systems and sewage lines.

Keeping height in mind, this will vary with different cultivars. Mulberries are deciduous trees that can grow to a height of 30-60′ (9-18 meters) tall and 20-40′ (6-12 meters) wide.

If it’s a fast-growing tree you are looking for, which is more than a privacy screen, keep a fruiting mulberry in mind.

2. Mulberries start producing fruit at a young age.

When you start a mulberry tree from seed, it may take 8-10 years to bear fruit. Considering the tree will outlive you, that’s not too long to wait.

The lifespan for a black mulberry (Morus nigra) is 500 to 1,000 years, whereas a white mulberry can live up to 250 years, according to some sources.

But, mulberry trees are dioecious. All that means is that some trees are male, and others are female. If you choose to start a mulberry from seed, you better start many since you won’t know for several years whether they will flower or not.

Also, when you grow mulberries from seeds, the quality of the fruit you end up with is questionable. Will it be sweeter than its parent or smaller? It’s probably not something you want to waste time with.

For a faster berry crop, consider growing a mulberry from cuttings or graftings instead. A grafted mulberry will flower and fruit in its first or second year of creation.

Mulberries can be eaten raw, made into jams or dehydrated.

Before we move any further, yes, mulberries can be eaten straight from the tree. In addition to that white mulberry on our homestead, we also had a black variety and a reddish one. They all had a slightly different flavor and level of acidity that offered to be eaten in various ways.

Our absolute favorite way to preserve white mulberries is to dehydrate them. All you need is the heat of the sun to accomplish this. Collecting them, however, is another story.

We’ve tried using nets to collect the berries fresh every morning, though what worked best was to put a layer of hay on the ground and hand-pick each fruit in a systematic fashion, so as not to smush the overly ripe fruits. It takes work, but it’s definitely worth it in winter to enjoy a handful of crunchy berries.

The black mulberries were canned into jams and made into syrups for pouring over ice cream.

If you have multiple mulberry trees, it’s a delicious season to enjoy, as the harvests often overlap.

Mulberries can be used in:

• scones
• sorbets
• muffins
• mulberry jam
• cobblers
• cakes
• cookies
• mulberry pie
• oatmeal
• bread

If that’s not reason enough to plant a tree, let’s move on to a few more benefits.

3. Essential vitamins and minerals in mulberries.

Mulberries are little powerhouses of succulent goodness. They are rich in phytonutrients, antioxidants, anthocyanins, and even zeaxanthin which is bound to help your eyes.

Simply put, they are supporting your body with iron, vitamins C, A and E, as well as B-complex vitamins.

I’d consider them a nutrient-dense fruit that grows no matter what the weather. Plus, they’re easy to preserve too.

4. Mulberries generally aren’t found in grocery stores.

You won’t often find mulberries in the store for a couple of reasons: first, they have a short shelf-life – and are best eaten or preserved the same day they are harvested. Secondly, harvesting isn’t always easy. It all depends on the height of the tree.

Because our white mulberry was already a giant with a few lower branches, we had to be content with what fell to the ground when ripe.

The black mulberries we could easily pick enough from the lowest hanging branches. Sometimes we used a ladder, climbed the tree or took a stool for extra reach.

The key to all of this is self-reliance. Being able to harvest and process food on your own may one day be one of the best survival skills you have. Even if you don’t have your own mulberry tree, you can always forage for the fruit – if you know how to identify and find it.

5. Mulberry leaves are edible.

Elizabeth has an informative article titled: 10 Trees With Edible Leaves to Forage or Grow. You’ll find mulberry listed there. Don’t be mistaken; we’re not only talking about the leaves to be eaten by silkworms.

The leaves are there for human consumption too. Boiled in tea, used for stuffing, or even chopped up in your scrambled eggs.

Mulberry leaves can also be dried, ground and added to a flour mix for additional nutrients in your diet, just as one might use acorn flour.

Once you learn to identify mulberry leaves (they are all edible, no matter what species you find), you’ll discover a new-to-you survival food that can be foraged each spring and summer. Here’s a picking tip for you: pick them before the berries are ripe.

6. The fruit of purple mulberries acts as a dye or temporary paint.

As you keep digging for more information, you’ll find that mulberries have a lot of hidden uses. Mulberry leaves or a mulberry leaf extract can be used as a dyestuff – it presents itself in the form of a beautiful green color.

In our experience, although the berry juice is very colorful, it doesn’t last long on fabrics. At least, not without mordants. When our daughter was young, she loved to play with the freshly squeezed berry juice, using it to paint whatever came to mind.

As a side note: you could drink this mulberry juice or add some washed berries to a smoothie. Even add the juice or berries to homemade frozen popsicles.

You can also make a purple homemade mulberry playdough out of the ripe berries.

7. Mulberry can be a great source of firewood with proper seasoning.

If you’re lucky enough to have room in your yard for a large mulberry tree, from time to time, you will need to trim some branches. With time, these can become a source of kindling.

In the event of having an existing giant on your land, when the time is right, it may be needed as firewood.

Of course, it’s how you season it that will make all the difference in the way it burns. Mulberry wood should be seasoned for even longer than oak, at least 12 months. If you can leave it longer, even up to two years, you’ll get an even hotter deal.

Because of mulberry’s high moisture content, it’s a wood that produces substantial smoke.

While you won’t want improperly seasoned wood in your fireplace, it’s good for your smoker. Or your friend’s smoker. In other words, mulberry is excellent for smoking meat. So, if you raise your own animals, you’re in for yet another treat.

8. Using mulberry for smoking meat.

Have you ever had meat smoked with mulberry shavings? Nope, me either. Though I would definitely try it if some tasty bites ever came my way.

I read it somewhere that mulberry wood pairs well with rabbit, poultry and fish. It’s definitely worth a try, especially if you raise any of those animals on your land.

But here’s a case where mulberries aren’t the same. In choosing wood for smoking, you’ll only want to cut down wood from a fruit-bearing (female) tree.

To get that mild, sweet flavor, season your wood as above and make sure it comes from a tree that produces fruit; otherwise, the flavor will be lost.

9. Mulberry wood is excellent for making barrels.

Barrel-making is quickly becoming a lost art, whether they be made out of oak or mulberry.

If you aren’t a master cooper yourself, it’s possible to learn a new skill via videos. In the case of that not happening, you could always hire the right person or buy a mulberry barrel online.

Storing your brandy in a mulberry barrel will take it to the next level.

10. Mulberry wood is highly valued in the furniture industry.

An easier project to tackle with wood from mulberry trees, provided you have the processing equipment, would be fence posts. The wood is very durable and insect resistant. If you were to purchase mulberry fence posts, alas, you’d be in for some sticker shock.

When you have it growing in your backyard, it won’t cost you a thing.

If it’s a large tree that needs to come down, know that aged mulberries can have quite thick trunks. In this case, you’ll get bigger, more valuable boards which can be turned into flooring or furniture.

11. Fodder for your homestead animals.

Our goats absolutely loved chowing down on fallen mulberries – and the leaves. If they could have found a way to climb the trees, they’d have been right up there in the branches. That is until the next tree or bush enticed them further.

Generally, it’s the wild animals that you’ll think of first when it comes to eating mulberries: foxes, squirrels, raccoons, opossums, crows, cardinals and other birds.

What about feeding your homestead animals? Who can help you enjoy the harvest?

Mulberries can be pollarded to keep the branches coming, at the same time keeping the bush or tree a more manageable size.

Since the leaves contain a significant amount of protein, they make a great supplement for your ruminating animals, as well as rabbits. Naturally, the berries will be gobbled up by your flock of poultry.

How to Care for Mulberry Trees

Now that you’ve picked a reason or two for growing mulberries on your property, the fun part comes next: choosing a variety and planting.

Choosing the Best Mulberry – Recommended Cultivars

Mulberry trees will give you a lot of fruit in return for giving them enough space to grow. That’s always been reason enough for us to keep them around.

Plus, there’s a benefit to having a fast-growing tree in your backyard, which is virtually disease- and pest-free.

While there are more than sixty species in the Morus genus, you won’t find all that many fruiting (or non-fruiting) cultivars at your local nursery.

Red Mulberry Varieties

Red mulberry (Morus rubra) trees are native to eastern North America. At maturity, red mulberries often reach heights of 35-50 feet and spread their branches 30-40 feet wide. Generally, they can be found growing in USDA hardiness zones 4-8.

It’s difficult to find a true red mulberry online. Your best chances of finding one with good flavor is to forage for it out in the wild and take cuttings or graft some buds onto a quality rootstock.

You can also find some less “pure” varieties which have been hybridized from white mulberries, such as Illinois Everbearing Mulberry (Morus alba x rubra).

Here’s something of interest; if you are in search of native red mulberries in the States: there is a Worthy Red Mulberry contest from growingmulberry.org which aims to “…identify, preserve, and make available superior Morus rubra specimens.”

Contest rules and instructions can be found here; the contest has been extended to July 2023, but it’s worth keeping in contact with them if you have living trees in your neighborhood and wish to preserve the native species.

Black Mulberry Varieties

Black mulberries are native to southwest Asia, though they’ve been grown in Europe since Roman times.

Just to be clear, you can’t tell one mulberry tree from another by the color of the fruit alone. While black mulberries (probably the tastiest and juiciest of the three) are black in color, so are the red mulberries. Actually, red mulberries are usually a deep red, almost black.

As for white mulberries, their colors change from cream to pinkish to dark lavender and even black. Crazy, isn’t it? To distinguish between the red, black and white mulberries you’re going to have to take some more information from the leaves. And within that – the leaf variation!

Back to some black mulberry cultivars for you; there’s more to choose from this time around:

• Dwarf Everbearing Mulberry
• Mulberry ‘Trader’ (Morus nigra)
• Giant Sweet Southern Black Mulberry Tree
• Black Pakistan Mulberry

And finally, if the plant rebel in you still wants a white mulberry, you can find those for sale too.

• White Persian Mulberry
• Northern Sweet White Mulberry
• White Ivory Mulberry

If it’s the wood or grand shade you are after – and none of the mess – there are fruitless white mulberry trees out there as well.

How to Plant a Mulberry

As mentioned, most mulberries have a tendency to be on the larger side once mature. Be sure you have plenty of space for them in your yard, as they are stand-alone-specimen trees that don’t like to be crowded.

In finding the best spot to plant them, consider that mulberries prefer full sun, though they will tolerate partial shade. In the case of the latter, they will, however, produce fewer fruits. If it’s the fruit you’re after, be sure that you meet the full sun requirement.

As for preferred soil conditions, they aren’t the pickiest trees on the block. They do like rich, well-draining soil but are also forgiving in “poor” soils.

As mentioned earlier, avoid placing mulberry trees close to home, patios, driveways, septic systems, or anywhere near your laundry line. White sheets and red berries do not mix well. Unless you enjoy doing multiple loads of washing.

Plant mulberries in a spot where you’ll keep them for the long haul. Black mulberries live the longest of the three, reaching into the hundreds of years.

Once your mulberry becomes established in the soil, all you need to do is sit back, relax and let nature take over. Even irrigation may be in vain, as the trees are fairly drought-tolerant. Save that water for your garden crops.

Pruning a Mulberry Tree

How did I get to the end of the article and forget to sing, “All around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel…” I’m still not sure what that’s all about, but I do know that mulberries are trees, not bushes. So, be sure to prune them as such.

Mulberries don’t need a lot of pruning. When they are young, be careful to shape them, keeping multiple branches for easier harvesting.

Every two to three years, you can prune off a minimal amount of wood to control their size. This should be done in spring, when the tree is in dormancy, as mulberries have the tendency to weep from their cut ends.

For the most part, you’ll only need to thin out dead or overcrowded branches. The tree trimmings can then be used in other ways.

With all this information in mind, are you team mulberry? Or will you still boo the next time you find them on the sidewalk?

The post 11 Reasons to Plant a Mulberry Tree & Care Guide appeared first on Rural Sprout.

Flowering trees make a smart addition to your home landscape. Some enjoy them only for their ornamental value, while others avoid them, seeing flowering trees as nothing more than pointless decoration.

Don’t let their gorgeous floral displays fool you; these trees offer numerous practical benefits to your home. Take advantage of them and plant a flowering tree this year.

It’s pretty, so what?

Flowering trees are often lumped into the “ornamental” category of landscape plants leaving many wondering if they serve a purpose beyond looking pretty. Are they really necessary? Some of them have a reputation for being messy or hard to grow. But I assure you, the benefits of having a flowering tree (or several) in your yard make them anything but unnecessary.

1. Improve the Value of Your Home

If you want to improve your curbside appeal, a flowering tree or two can help. A visually interesting and well-maintained landscape adds resale value to your home. Hiring a landscape designer to create a custom layout and installation can easily eat up any value added. But it’s easy enough to plant one or more flowering trees yourself and reap the benefits.

2. Flowering Trees Attract and Feed Pollinators

Insect populations have been in steady decline for decades now. It’s only recently that the Average Joe has taken an interest in their preservation. (We’ve realized how important their survival is to our ability to eat. Creating new habitats for native bees, moths, butterflies and other insects is key to preventing their loss.

Many homeowners have heard the call and started pollinator gardens. A flowering tree is an important addition to this enterprise as many provide food for pollinators in the spring, long before annual and perennial flowers bloom. Gardeners also benefit from flowering trees and the pollinators they attract as it increases pollination rates and their overall yield.

3. Attract and Feed Wild Birds

If you love the flash of a red cardinal wing and the sweet song of the black-capped chickadee in your backyard, then you should plant a flowering tree.

Many of these trees also produce berries or fruit that wild birds like to eat, giving them a natural food source that doesn’t rely on someone refilling the bird feeder. And their flowers and foliage create a safe haven for birds to hide and build nests. A flowering tree is a great way to attract more feathered friends to your yard.

4. Flowering Trees Absorb Noise and Offer Privacy

Enjoying your backyard is hard when it gives the neighborhood a front-row seat to watch what you’re doing. Adding a privacy fence can be astronomical, especially with the cost of materials these days. Not to mention many fencing materials are bad for the planet.

If you want a cost-effective and climate-friendly alternative, consider planting one or more flowering trees. Their foliage acts as a privacy screen for you and can block unsightly views. Leaves also absorb sound, keeping street noise out and backyard conversations in. Plus, flowering trees are much prettier than your average fence.

5. Capture and Store Carbon

When we burn fossil fuels, we release carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide) that was locked inside the earth for millennia back into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, we’re adding more carbon than we can store, leading to increased heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. If you’re looking for ways to make your yard and garden climate-friendly, you’ll want to plant a flowering tree or two.

The backyard climate enthusiast would be hard-pressed to find a better way of storing carbon than with more trees on their property. Trees pack away roughly 48 pounds of carbon per year. And let’s not forget all the oxygen they produce in the process.

6. Flowering Trees Prevent Storm Runoff and Soil Erosion

If you deal with storm runoff whenever you get heavy rain, consider planting a tree to help hold the soil in place. Continuously replacing lost soil is expensive and can lead to worse problems if that runoff makes its way into streams, rivers, storm sewers, etc. If you’re planning a rain garden, you’ll want to add a flowering tree or two.

7. Reduce Heating and Cooling Costs

Planting a large flowering tree near your home can help shade it in the summer, reducing your cooling costs. On the flip side, a row of flowering shrubs or trees can act as a windbreak, buffering your house from frigid winter winds.

You should consider planting trees if you’re looking for ways to reign in ever-increasing energy costs. Everybody loves a shrinking energy bill and a lovely view from their window.

8. Beat the Winter Blues and Kick Off Spring with Color

Even the most diehard winter fans grow tired of the dull grays and browns that engulf the landscape in late February and early March. Summer flowers seem ages away; even spring bulbs can’t bloom fast enough.

When you’ve had it with winter, you can pat yourself on the back for planting a couple of early-blooming trees around your home. Not all flowering trees bloom in the spring, but many do, offering stunning displays at the beginning of the growing season. Depending on the variety you choose, these delightful harbingers of spring may even beat the robin’s arrival.

9. Surround Your Home with Lush Fragrance

There’s a reason Bath & Body Work’s best-selling fragrance is Japanese Cherry Blossom. Nothing is better than standing in your backyard during those first few warm spring days and inhaling cherry blossom, wisteria and lilac. And a summer night wouldn’t be complete without the scent of magnolia on the breeze. These heady scents are a huge bonus compared to planting any old tree.

Now that you’re taking a closer look at flowering trees let’s discuss factors you’ll need to consider when choosing one. (Or several, you’re going to plant several, right?)

In the day and age where we buy everything online, this is one purchase you’re better off making in person. Your local nursery and garden center will have all the information you need, from what will work for your home to planting and caring for your new tree.

Important Considerations

Hardiness Zone

This is probably the most important thing to consider when picking a tree. You want to be sure you choose a variety that will thrive where you live. Some flowering trees may not flower if they’re subjected to freezing temperatures. And still, others may need a period of cold winter to develop blooms properly. Another great reason to shop locally – they will have trees suited to your hardiness zone.

Sunlight

Nearly all flowering trees need full sun; very few do well in shade or partial shade. Be sure to choose a sunny location for your new tree. Discuss your options with someone at your local nursery if you’re concerned about whether or not your yard gets enough sunlight.

Size and Shape

If you have a small yard, that doesn’t preclude you from planting a flowering tree. Plenty of them can be pruned to a smaller stature. Choose a dwarf variety or look for a flowering shrub instead of a large tree.

In the same vein, you may want a larger tree to provide shade; in that case, take into consideration its mature size. What obstacles do you have in your yard that could impede its growth? Pay attention to power lines, sidewalks and other permanent fixtures.

Do You Want a Native Species

More and more gardeners are opting to plant native plants and trees in their yards, which is always a good idea. Remember, many invasive species that now compete with native plants in our forests started as harmless ornamentals imported from other countries.

What Look Are You Trying to Achieve

Are you looking for a large tree you could lay under in the summertime or hang a swing from? Or do you want something more compact and shrub-like to screen your backyard? Beyond looking pretty, is there something you’re trying to achieve with this planting?

Take Into Account Existing Trees

You’ll need to consider the trees you already have in your backyard. Their root structure could mean certain areas of your yard are off-limits to new trees.

Here are a few trees to consider when choosing a flowering tree for your yard. Of course, not all of these will work for every hardiness zone, and there are hundreds of varieties of flowering trees to choose from. If you find one on this list you want to grow, head to your local garden center and ask what varieties of this species do well where you live. They can also suggest alternatives if necessary.

Lovely Flowering Trees To Consider

Flowering Trees with Edible Fruit

Cherries, elderberry, crabapples and apple trees have some of the spring’s loveliest flowers. And later, they develop into tasty fruit. If you want a tree that does double duty as an ornamental and edible planting, you’ll want to choose one of these.

Highly Scented Flowering Trees

Lilacs are always a perennial favorite for scented blooms. Wisteria is as dramatic in its flowers as they are in their scent, although you’ll need to be careful; some varieties can be overpowering. Spicebush is another highly scented blooming tree, although its blooms are a bit unusual. And if you want the heady smell of summer, go for honeysuckle or magnolia. For fall flowers and scent, consider the crape myrtle.

Best Flowering Trees for a Small Space

You’ll need to look for specific varieties for your hardiness zone and have a good idea of what your space limits are, but there are numerous trees with more compact versions that are perfect for a small yard. Crabapples, lilacs, magnolias, cherries and dogwood all have compact varieties. There are even a few crabapple varieties compact enough to grow in a container on your balcony.

Flowering Trees to Attract Birds

If you want to bring more feathered friends to your yard, we’ve got an entire list of fifteen different trees and shrubs to grow that will attract birds. Many are flowering shrubs or trees, such as elderberry and serviceberry.

The post 9 Reasons To Plant Flowering Trees + Lovely Species to Try appeared first on Rural Sprout.

If you want a bounty of juicy ripe fruit every year, then annual pruning and maintenance of your fruit trees is a must – especially in winter.

But once the job is done, you’re left with a giant pile of twigs, branches and sometimes larger limbs.

Most folks dispose of the cuttings in one way or another. If you hire someone to do the pruning, clean-up is usually part of the package. But whether you’re the arborist or someone else is, you might want to hang onto all that fruitwood.

We’ve got some excellent ways for you to put those prunings or trimmings to good use.

There are a few good reasons for keeping fruit tree trimmings.

It might be more convenient to let someone else do the clean-up or to put all that waste on the curb, but there are a couple of good reasons not to.

Many tree care companies will give you a discount if you handle the clean-up yourself. Saving a little money is always a good thing.

By using the twigs, branches and limbs you’ve pruned instead of sending them to the landfill, you’re helping to slow and prevent climate change.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a quarter of the solid waste that ends up in landfills is lawn trimmings and food waste. As this green waste breaks down, it releases methane (a greenhouse gas even more potent than CO₂) into the atmosphere, where it traps in heat.

Instead, here are seven ways to use up your fruit tree trimmings.

1. Make a Wattle Fence

Fencing can be incredibly expensive, and many of the materials used to make fencing aren’t great for the environment. Why not build your own rustic wattle fence? We show you how here.

Larger limbs can be used for the main supports, and all those branches you’ve pruned are excellent for weaving the actual fence.

One of the benefits of using this type of fencing is that you can create a very dense fence perfect for privacy, or you can create something airier to allow plants to grow through or have good airflow. Wattle fencing is highly customizable to your needs.

2. DIY Garden Supports – Build a Trellis, Bean Pole or Row Cover Frame

Longer branches pruned from fruit trees are perfect for use in and around the garden. They’re usually quite bendy, making it easy to shape them to suit your project. Whether you need a rustic trellis for climbing plants or some row cover supports, the supple branches of fruit trees are perfect.

I also love the look of using these natural materials in the garden. Nothing gives a more rustic cottage garden feel than seeing pea tendrils climbing up a branch instead of a wire support.

3. Enjoy a Pleasant-Smelling Fire

My dad always had a pile of smaller logs set aside next to the main stack of firewood. These were the limbs cut from the apple trees. He would toss one on the fire now and then, and the whole cabin would smell good.

If you’ve got a fireplace or an outdoor firepit, save and use the twigs, branches and limbs to burn. The smaller stuff is excellent kindling once it’s dried, and the limbs can be cut into firewood. Set it aside from your normal stuff and add a log now and then to enjoy an especially lovely scented fire.

4. Up Your Barbecue Game

Most guys I know get a little weird about cooking meat outdoors. There’s something about the sound of charcoal briquettes being poured into a grill and the sizzle of meat that makes them lose their minds. They get oddly competitive.

If you want to up your grilling game, save all that marvelous fruitwood for grilling and smoking. Applewood, in particular, does amazing things to meat when you cook with it.

Save and season your wood, soaking it in water for about a half hour before grilling it. The soak will make the seasoned wood smoke for a bit, infusing your meat with wonderful flavor.

Here’s a tutorial for making your own applewood chips for smoking.

5. Build Your Chickens a Fancy Roost

Having a backyard flock can get expensive pretty quickly if you’re not careful. But it doesn’t have to be; you can raise chickens on a dime. One way to help manage costs is using materials you already have to build what your birds need.

Making your own chicken roost using branches and limbs from fruit tree cuttings is easy enough for anyone to do. Meredith created this super easy tutorial to show you how to make a chicken roost out of tree branches.

Your hens will thank you!

6. Help Fill a New Raised Bed

If you plan on building new raised beds, don’t get rid of that pile of branches and limbs. As anyone who has ever built deep raised beds will tell you, filling them can be expensive.

You can help cut the cost and improve the soil over time by putting your fruit tree trimmings in the bottom and then adding soil. The wood will break down over time, adding nutrients back into the soil.

All you need to do is cut the larger limbs into smaller pieces and the branches into more manageable sizes and layer them at the bottom of the bed. Now it’s ready to be filled with the perfect blend of soil.

Similarly, you can use your fruit tree trimmings to start a new Hugelkultur raised bed.

7. Chip for Mulch

One of the easiest ways to repurpose fruit tree trimmings is to chip them into mulch. Mulching your garden is essential to locking in moisture, preventing soil erosion and keeping weeds at bay. Finding and using readily available materials to mulch with is always the way to go.

A small but inexpensive garden chipper is worth the investment and will pay for itself after a couple of years.

If you’ve hired a tree care company, ask them to chip the debris and leave it rather than raking it up. You may even be able to get extra mulch for free this way. Some tree care companies will happily empty their truck in your yard while working at your home.

Using the resulting debris from your annual fruit tree pruning around your home and garden is not only practical but good for the environment and good for your wallet.

The post 7 Uses for Fruit Tree Trimmings You Probably Never Considered appeared first on Rural Sprout.

The most exciting time of year for anyone who has a fruit tree is the period when harvest time rolls around. We have an orchard with a variety of different apple trees, plum trees, sour cherry trees, damsons and mulberries.

Late summer through fall is a busy time. Some years we have a higher yield than others. But whether it has been a good year or a bad one for our fruits, there is still a lot of work to do. 

Here on our homestead, we aim to reduce our consumption as much as possible. But there are certain pieces of equipment that we would find it very difficult to be without when harvesting, processing and preserving our fruit and when caring for our trees.

But before we go on to discuss the twelve pieces of equipment that everyone with a fruit tree needs, let’s take a moment to think about the things that are necessary for fruit tree growing that you do not need to buy.

What Not To Buy For Your Fruit Tree

These are things that nature, and your garden, can often provide:

• Compost – (Make your own from household scraps and other organic matter.)
• Mulches – (Use homemade compost, leaf mold, chopped and dropped comfrey, and other organic matter from around your garden or homestead.)
• Organic liquid feeds – (Give fruit trees a boost with your own homemade comfrey liquid feed, nettle liquid feed, or other homemade potions.)
• Stakes for saplings/ young trees – (Consider using long, straight branches pruned or foraged from elsewhere on your property or the surrounding area.)

Not exactly a piece of equipment, but one thing to mention in regard to planting new fruit trees: I would highly recommend adding mycorrhizal fungi in the planting hole at the time of planting. This will help to develop the necessary soil ecosystem to promote healthy fruit trees/ forest gardens.

Now, without further ado, let’s take a look at the pieces of equipment that no fruit tree owner should be without:

Tools For Harvesting Fruit

We could not do everything that we do here without certain pieces of equipment that save a lot of time and effort during the fruit tree harvest and make it possible for us to reach and collect all the fruit.

1. Wicker Baskets

This super simple piece of equipment is something that I use on my homestead literally every day. I use it to gather a wide range of harvests – from the vegetable plots, the polytunnel and the orchard – and also to collect the chickens’ eggs.

Of course, there are plenty of simple receptacles that you could use to bring in your fruit harvests, but a wicker basket that can be slung on one arm is a tried and tested and eco-friendly option that really is hard to beat. If you have the skills and time, you might even be able to make your own or source a vintage wicker basket online. Another similar option is a traditional wooden trug.

2. Fruit Picker

Another piece of fruit-picking equipment that I would highly recommend purchasing is a fruit picker basket.

This can be attached to the end of a long wooden pole and is ideal for picking fruit from mature standard trees. The ability to attach the basket to a wooden pole is great, as this will allow you to avoid the more environmentally damaging plastic and metal poled options. 

If your trees are very large, however, you can also consider buying an extendable fruit picker with a basket that is already attached to a lightweight, extendable pole to reach up to fruits at 30ft or so.

3. Step Ladder

Another extremely useful piece of equipment when you have a large fruit tree is a step ladder. Unless you have a good head for heights and perfect balance, a step ladder with guard rails and wide, non-slip treads like the one in the link above is a very good idea. 

While you may not absolutely need a step ladder for harvesting fruit (or for pruning) due to the long-reach options that are available, having a good step ladder can be a good idea for a wide range of jobs around a garden or homestead. 

Equipment for Processing & Preserving the Fruit

Reaching the fruits and bringing them indoors is just the start of the harvesting job. There is no point in harvesting all that fruit and then just letting it sit around and go off!

While, of course, there are plenty of fruits that you can enjoy fresh from the tree, it is likely that you will have to process and preserve your fruits in some way.

4. Large Preserving Pan

One of the great ways to preserve fruit is to make them into jams, jellies or other preserves. A large preserving pan is essential for this job. Get the right one, and it will last you for years. 

Personally, I use a large enamel dutch oven that I have had for years. While Le Creuset has ruled the cast iron enamelware scene for ages, Amazon Basics makes a wonderful and economical cast iron dutch oven that has never let me down.

My pan has a lid and is also ovenproof, so it can also be used in the oven to make apple butter and other preserves. So while it is not designed specifically for jam making, it is a versatile and useful piece of equipment to help me deal with the harvest from my fruit trees. 

5. Long-Handled Wooden Spoon

While any non-reactive spoon will do for stirring your jams and preserves, I learned the hard way about spatters on the hand while using a spoon that is too short! If you have a fruit tree, or more than one, and will be making a lot of jams and preserves, then buying a long-handled wooden spoon is a must.

Sometimes, the cheapest and simplest pieces of equipment are the most effective.

6. Canning Jars

While you can simply recycle old jars to make your preserves, it is worthwhile bearing in mind that your preserves will last longer (and be safer to consume) if you use proper canning jars.

These jars have sealable lids with bands to keep preserves fresh. You can purchase new bands for these jars. There are a number of different systems to choose from, but it is important if you plan on doing a lot of canning to choose a system that is suitable for preserving the things that you wish to preserve.

While not absolutely necessary, if you are planning on doing a lot of canning of the fruits from your fruit trees, you may also like to consider investing in a hot water canner.

7. Fruit Crusher

When you have a lot of apple trees or other fruit trees on your property and a lot of fruit to harvest and process, preparing the fruits can take a lot of time. If you plan on making cider from apples, for example, a manual fruit crusher can be a great investment.

For our apple harvest, this is a piece of equipment that we would not be without. It also works well for a range of other fruits – creating a pulp that can then be pressed or processed in other ways. 

Chopping or crushing fruits manually without one of these can be a very time-consuming business. I have found that turning the handle on this crusher is far quicker than chopping fruits by hand with a knife. 

8. Fruit Press

The pulp that we process using our crusher is then placed into our fruit press. This is another piece of equipment that I would highly recommend for anyone with a fruit tree. It is practically a necessity for anyone who has multiple apple trees, as we do. It allows us to quickly press our apples to make fruit juice or cider.

Since it is a mechanical process, it can be carried out without access to electricity, and large quantities of fruit can be processed without burning out the motor of a smaller electric juicer. 

Pieces of Equipment for Pruning a Fruit Tree

Once all the fruit has been harvested and the fruit trees lose their leaves, it’s time to prune the apple trees. A number of other fruit trees also need to be pruned over the dormant period. The trees in our orchard are all mature trees, which we prune each winter.

We begin by removing any wood that is dead, damaged or diseased and then work to improve the shape, reduce the size and open up the canopy to make it easier for fruits to ripen up next year. 

Here are the pieces of equipment that we use to prune the fruit trees on our property:

9. Pruning Shears

A good pair of secateurs or pruning shears are essential for almost any garden. When you have fruit trees, these are used to cut off smaller branches that may be dead, damaged or diseased and to remove small branches that are overcrowding the canopy.

Learn how to clean and sharpen them, so they last forever.

10. Pruning Saw

Every now and then, it will be essential to remove larger branches from your fruit trees. It will not be possible to remove these with a smaller pair of secateurs or pruning shears. For these jobs, a good quality pruning saw will be essential. 

Since I am trying to reduce plastic use and aim to bring as little plastic onto our property as possible, I prefer to choose tools that have wooden handles wherever I can. Wooden-handled tools are a more eco-friendly choice and are also easier to repair than tools that have plastic handles. 

11. Telescopic Tree Pruner

If you have large, standard fruit trees, a telescopic tree pruner could make it easier for you to prune your trees. Such a device will remove the need for a step ladder as it will allow you to reach high into the tree’s canopy to lop off or saw off higher branches. 

Since I am only about 5 ft 2, reach can be a challenge! As we have a lot of mature trees on our property, I find a telescopic tree pruner to be invaluable. Without one, I would definitely find it a challenge to prune our trees without assistance. 

12. Wood Chipper

The final challenge in pruning fruit trees is deciding what to do with all the woody material that you have pruned. It’s important to make sure that this valuable material doesn’t go to waste. 

We use the prunings from our apple trees (as well as the summer prunings from our cherry and plum trees) for a range of different applications. For example we:

• Use larger branches for firewood.
• Make use of branches and twigs to build up new hugelkultur beds or growing areas. 
• Use branches as supports for beans and other climbing plants. 

However, since we generally have quite a lot of pruned wood from our fruit trees and other trees to deal with, we have also invested in a garden wood chipper. We find this piece of equipment invaluable as it allows us to make wood chips that we use to:

• Build up hugelkultur mounds and other new growing areas.
• Add carbon-rich material to the compost heap.
• Create paths through the forest garden.
• Make natural, eco-friendly firelighters along with beeswax.

While there are, of course, plenty of other pieces of equipment those with a fruit tree could find useful, the items above are those which I would not be without on my homestead. 

The post 12 Pieces of Equipment Everyone With a Fruit Tree Needs appeared first on Rural Sprout.

Fruit-bearing trees that are left to grow just as nature intended will become massive over time. Although beautiful, mature fruit trees with large spreading canopies and dense crowns will shade out the sun from the lower limbs.

While unpruned fruit trees certainly have ornamental value, it comes at the cost of fruit production.

When you’re keen to grow trees primarily for fruit, you must familiarize yourself with summer pruning. This will alter the shape and structure of the tree, of course. But when done correctly, pruning results in healthier trees that will become consistent and generous providers.  

Why Prune Fruit Trees in Summer?

Most pruning is done when the trees are dormant in winter, after the leaves have dropped but before the buds begin to form in early spring. Winter pruning has an invigorating effect on the tree, and wherever cuts were made, new vegetative growth will explode once the growing season arrives.

But by mid-summer, we want the trees to stop producing leafy growth and switch their energies towards fruit set. This can be accomplished with a series of strategic cuts that will promote fruit bud development on lateral branches, without inadvertently causing more fruitless branching.

Reduce height and control regrowth

Unpruned fruit trees can get quite enormous – peach can reach 20 feet tall and wide, apple 30 feet, and pear more than 50 feet. Because the upper portion of the tree canopy will receive the most sunlight, it will produce the most fruit – but you’d practically need a scissor lift or cherry picker to reach it.

Summer pruning keeps the size of fruit trees manageable and their fruits more accessible come harvest time.

Wherever you cut in summer will regrow in inches; the same cutting done in winter would regrow in feet.

Pruning at this time of year has the greatest dwarfing effect on the tree. The removal of live, leaf-bearing branches slows the tree’s growth, dwarfing the root system initially and then the total size of the tree.

Let in more light into the interior

For a fruiting branch to develop and maintain fruit, it will need to receive 50% or more of direct sunlight each day.

In unpruned fruit trees, sunlight will only penetrate about 3 to 4 feet into the top of the tree’s canopy. Branches that are crowded around the central trunk shade out the light, producing fruit at the top of the canopy and very few – if any – towards the bottom.

But pruning in summer removes and thins out the shading boughs, creating tunnels of light that can reach the lower portions of the tree.

Letting more light into the canopy interior will increase the number of fruiting branches and ensure fruits are more evenly distributed through the tree.

Sweeter, more flavorful fruit

During the active growth of summer, tree leaves undergo photosynthesis and produce energy in the form of carbohydrates. These carbohydrates are directed throughout the tree to grow roots, shoots, leaves, and fruit.

When live limbs are cut back over summer, it causes the tree to react by reducing its overall growth.  Its energy reserves will pivot away from vegetative growth and instead go toward fruiting.

With less leafy growth to siphon up the tree’s resources, the fruits will become the main beneficiary of its carbohydrate reserves. More sugars will be available for the fruits as they grow, making them sweeter and much more flavorful.

Prompts better fruit bud formation

Whether or not a bud becomes a leaf or a flower largely depends on the tree’s supply of growth hormones. Things like auxins and gibberellins will promote leafing branches, while ethylene tends to trigger flowering buds – especially in apples and other pome fruits.

Ethylene is a gaseous substance that is released at the growing tips of roots, from flowers and ripening fruit, as well as damaged plant tissues.

And so, pruning and trimming back lateral branches in summer rapidly releases ethylene from every spot that was cut. As the ethylene gas is released, it rises and saturates the tree canopy.

Although the exact mechanisms behind it are still unknown, it’s thought that flooding the tree with ethylene in this manner causes more flower buds to develop throughout the crown.

Grow a stronger tree

Every time you “head back” a branch – that is, shorten its length without removing the limb entirely – it will grow back stronger.

As the lopped off ends of fruit-bearing boughs start to regrow, the branch will thicken in the process.

Tree branches that have been trimmed in summer are better able to bear the weight of the fruit, making the limb far less likely to sag down to the ground or snap off the tree entirely.

8 Tips for Pruning Fruit Trees in Summer

1. Get the Timing Down

Summer pruning is best accomplished in mid to late summer. This can be anywhere from July to September, depending on where you live.

You’ll know it’s time to summer prune when the majority of branch tips have set a terminal bud.

Throughout spring and early summer, when your fruit trees are actively growing, they will have a bud at the tip of each branch that lengthens the limb and produces leaves. When the tree has moved past the active growth phase, it will develop a fat and swollen bud – oftentimes, a fruit bud – and the branch will grow no more that year.

The terminal bud is the best signal that this is the perfect time to prune. The tree has already allocated its energy for the season and any cuts you make now will not burst forth with excessive regrowth.

2. Use the Right Tools for the Job

Using the proper pruning tools will make the job easier. Always make sure your pruners are clean and sharp before getting to task.

Bypass loppers are excellent for snipping away live limbs that are 1.5 inches in diameter or less. The scissor-like blades can get in close to where the shoot meets the branch, making clean cuts in tight spaces.

For shoots and branches less than an inch in diameter, use a pair of bypass hand pruners.

If you’re renovating a mature – but neglected and overgrown – fruit tree, it’s best to hire a professional service before attempting to prune it yourself. Once it’s a more manageable size, you can take over the seasonal pruning and maintenance.

3. Make Clean Cuts

Any cuts you make should be clean, straight, and smooth, with no ragged or torn edges.

Frayed stubs and branch ends will slow down the tree’s natural healing process. Poorly pruned spots are also more susceptible to disease and can create new entry points for insects.

When removing shoots and branches, make sure the cuts are flush to the primary branch. Wood heals most quickly in summer when the bark ridges around the base of removed branches are left intact.

Peach trees are an exception – make collar cuts instead of flush cuts, leaving a short nub back on the tree.

When pruning cuts are clean and flush, there’s no need to dress or seal the wounds.

4. Remove All Dead Branches, Suckers, and Watersprouts

Begin summer pruning by cutting out all dead, diseased, and broken branches. Once these are removed, it’ll be so much easier to see the form and structure of your tree.

Also prune out suckers growing at the base of the trunk. Watersprouts – thin and twiggy vertical growth that emerge from the trunk or larger limbs – should also be snipped away.

Suckers and watersprouts are purely vegetative and take up precious resources and space that would be better reserved for fruit-bearing limbs.

5. Thin Out Lateral Branches

Every tree is going to be a little different in shape and structure. You may have a fruit tree with a central trunk and several large branches growing from it (known as a “single leader” tree). Or it may have two or more dominant stems with numerous limbs arrayed around them (called a “multiple leader” tree).

Regardless of its shape, the tree’s general anatomy will be the same. From these larger limbs – known as scaffolding branches – lateral branches will grow. Lateral branches are the shoots that will eventually flower and bear fruit.

After lateral shoots emerge, they will form fruit buds in their second and third year. In the third and fourth year, the lateral will finally give a harvest of fruit. Once a mature lateral branch is brought to bear, it becomes a perennial organ that will provide for many years.

The goal of summer pruning is to space the lateral branches roughly 7 to 9 inches apart along the scaffolding branch.

This is accomplished by thinning – or removing the entire shoot from its point of origin.

When selecting which laterals to keep or thin out, leave the shoots that are growing horizontally (at a 0 to 45 degree angle) and are short (about 8 to 9 inches long) to develop on the tree.

Remove laterals that are lengthy and vigorous, as these branches often grow too long and will shade out neighboring limbs.

Once laterals are properly spaced out, train them to grow along the horizontal plane and perpendicularly to the primary branch. Use V-notched tree spacers or twine to help orient the lateral shoots, adjusting them periodically as they grow.

6. Use the 3 Bud System

The next step in summer pruning is to use heading cuts to remove length from the laterals you’ve decided to keep.

Any lateral shoots that are 8 to 9 inches long are perfect as they are and don’t require pruning. For the others, snipping off the growing tips will make for stronger and thicker branches that can support the weight of fruit without breaking.

To determine where to cut along the lateral shoot, let the 3 bud system guide you.

Based on the findings of French orchardist Louis Lorette, the 3 bud system involves cutting back the laterals to 3 buds of new growth. The bud at the end will continue to regrow by a few inches, while the other two buds will become long-lived spurs that will yield fruit for many years.

With the 3 bud system it’s even possible to get your hands on fruit more quickly. Heading back laterals will sometimes produce fully formed fruit the following season, as opposed to its third or fourth year of growth.

7. Train Fruit Trees When They’re Young

Hold off on summer pruning until your fruit trees are at least 5 years old and have begun to produce fruit in earnest.  

Younger fruit trees should be allowed to grow vegetatively so as to lay a solid foundation for its later fruit-bearing years. Having about 6 to 8 scaffolding branches along the trunk will build a good starting framework.

As youthful trees become established, they may start producing small crops of fruit too soon. As tempting as it might be to let the fruits develop, allowing the tree to fruit prematurely will slow its ability to branch out and create that sturdy structure.

The twiggy branches are also too young and thin to hold heavy fruits, increasing the likelihood they will bend and break. It’s best to remove early fruits by thinning the shoots down to the primary limb.  

Shaping and training trees in their early years will maximize fruit production later on and make maintenance pruning all the easier.

In years 3 and 4, you can start lightly thinning out branches and using spacers or stretchers to train them to shape.

Open center training is where the scaffold limbs are arranged around the trunk at about the same height, like spokes on a wheel. Peaches, nectarines, and other stone fruits prefer to grow in an open center shape.

Modified central leader training is where scaffold limbs are staggered up the trunk, each facing a different direction like a Christmas tree. Sour cherries, apples, apricots, pears, plums, pecans, figs, walnuts, pomegranate, and persimmons will be most productive in this form.

Sweet cherries have no preference and will grow in abundance with either shape.

8. Don’t Forget to Thin the Fruit

Summer pruning is all about setting up your fruit tree for success in the following seasons. Thinning, heading back, and training lateral branches today will pay in bushels tomorrow.

But for the crop coming in here and now, thinning out the fruit will have tangible benefits for this year’s harvest.

Fruit thinning is done earlier in the season, after fruits have set and are about a half-inch in diameter. Pluck out fruits by hand, leaving one fruit (or cluster of fruit) every 4 to 6 inches down the branch.

The fruits left back on the tree can now grow unhindered, receiving more of the tree’s energy and sugars. That means large, impossibly sweet fruit at gathering time.

Removing fruit lightens the weight on each branch, resolving potential load-bearing problems too.

It also encourages flower bud development the following year. Thin out your fruit each season and you’ll have consistently bountiful harvests every single autumn.

The post How to Prune Fruit Trees in Summer & Why You Should appeared first on Rural Sprout.

Good friends are hard to come by. But good neighbors? Harder still. So, when you’ve grown tired of staring out your kitchen window at the neighbor’s collection of “classic” cars, he’s going to fix up one of these days. Or you’re a little tired of reminding the kids next door that your ornamental pond is not the local swimming hole; it’s time to grab a shovel and dig a hole.

To plant a tree.

Geeze, what did you think we were going to do?   

We’ve all heard the old saying, “Good fences make good neighbors.” But what makes great neighbors is a nice, tall privacy hedge.

If you’ve been kicking around the idea of adding some sort of privacy feature to your yard, one of the first things people think of is a fence. But there are many great reasons to take the natural route and plant trees instead.

In this piece, we’ll look at the benefits of using trees to create privacy in your backyard. If you thought trees weren’t a good option because it takes decades for them to grow, think again. We’ve got a few recommendations for the fastest growing trees, so you’ll have a lush green hedge faster than you can say, “He brought home another rusty clunker?” Waiting decades for trees to grow? How about three feet or more of growth per year.

What Are the Benefits of Using Trees to Create Privacy?

Trees are pretty great when it comes to creating a more private and enclosed atmosphere in your yard. With all of the natural benefits that come from using trees, why would you even consider a fence?

1. Shade

Naturally, shade comes to mind when you think of trees. Planting a privacy hedge allows you to grow shade where you need it. Plan a shorter hedge to shade a portion of your lawn that gets too hot or where shade is wanted during certain times of the day.

Planting a privacy hedge alongside your house can also help with cooling bills during the summer. There are even several quick-growing trees that grow tall enough to shade second stories too.

2. Windbreak

If the wind is a problem, trees make excellent buffers. A tall hedge of arborvitae will shield your house from gusts that can easily strip your home of heat during the winter. If you’re looking for a way to lower heating bills without replacing your current heating system, a hedge can go a long way to help you conserve fuel.

Windbreaks are also great for other plants. Use a tree windbreak to shelter the more delicate plants in your yard and garden.

3. Sound

If you’ve got a lot of street noise or noisy neighbors, consider growing a hedge instead of installing a fence. Hard fencing can make ambient noise seem louder as the sound bounces off the fencing. But tall hedges, especially with trees that have foliage all the way to the ground, will absorb sound, giving you a quieter backyard.

4. Living Fence

Again, choose a tree or shrub with foliage that starts at the ground, and a thick hedge will keep out humans and most critters larger than a rabbit. That includes the neighbor’s dog that likes to leave presents on your lawn.

5. They Just Look Nice

Trees are beautiful. Come on, are you really going to make me go into detail here? Yes, there’s some pretty nice fencing out there, but wouldn’t you rather have lush, green trees growing in its place?

6. Useful

Your living privacy screen doesn’t have to be purely ornamental. You could start a hedgerow. These living walls provide sanctuary for many creatures and can even repay you with tasty things to eat, such as raspberries or blackberries. Check out Cheryl’s great article detailing why you should add a hedgerow to your property.

7. Carbon Offset

If having privacy in your backyard and global climate issues is important to you, then opting to use trees rather than some sort of commercial fencing is the way to go. Trees are fantastic at storing carbon. Not to mention there’s that bonus of them making oxygen. When you take into account the manufacturing processes involved for most composite fencing materials, growing trees as a fence is a far better option for the planet.

8. Height

Depending on your needs, a normal fence might not cut it. If you’ve got a second story or balcony in full view of the neighbors, then using certain trees can provide you with the coverage you need. Good luck finding a fence that will reach that high.

9. Expense

The expense is one of the best reasons for choosing trees over fencing when creating privacy. It’s much more economical to purchase trees, even many of them, than it is to install a fence.

Let’s Get Growing – Fast

We’ve rounded up the fastest-growing trees to give you a green, lush privacy screen in no time. And we mean fast. We want privacy ASAP! Only trees that put on three feet a year or more made it onto our list.

1. Leyland Cypress

The Leyland cypress is hands down the most-planted privacy tree in the states. And for good reason, too – it can put on an impressive four feet a year of growth. They aren’t finicky about soil and will grow well even in areas with cold winters. Not only does this tree grow tall, but it also fills in with feathery branches, creating the perfect privacy screen.

Cupressus

Mature Height 40-60 feet

Zones – 6-10

Full-sun

2. Thuja Green Giant Arborvitae

If you want one of the easiest to grow trees out there that give you excellent, dense foliage for privacy, then you want a Thuja green giant arborvitae. I used to work for a tree care and landscaping company, and we planted these in landscaping installation after landscaping installation. They’re nearly indestructible – drought-tolerant, impervious to most pests and diseases, and you could probably stand there and watch them grow. The Green Giant can easily add three to five feet each year.

Thuja plicata x standishii ‘Green Giant’

Mature Height 30-50 feet

Zones – 5-8

Full-sun to partial shade

3. Hybrid Poplar

If you need privacy and shade super fast, look no further than the hybrid poplar. This is one of the most popular quick-growing shade trees. Why? Because it can grow up to eight feet in a single year. If you’re looking to sell your home in a few years and want to add some easy property value, plant a hybrid poplar or two.

Populus deltoids x Polulus nigra

Mature Height 40-50 feet

Zones – 3-8

Full-sun

4. Chinese Privet

While it’s not the tallest of trees, the privet is a classic privacy hedge option. It grows at three feet per year and fills in just as quickly. They hold their shape nicely when pruned, so they don’t need frequent upkeep. Privet is drought-tolerant and isn’t fussy about soil, making it a great option for folks with less-than-ideal growing conditions.

Ligustrum sinense

Mature Height 6-8 feet

Zones – 7-10

Full-sun or partial shade

5. Nellie Stevens Holly

Holly is an excellent choice for a tall privacy screen or a low privacy hedge. Because of its dense, prickly foliage, it creates an impenetrable living fence that’s easily trimmed to keep it looking neat and tidy. Or let it grow wild and free for a more natural-looking hedge.

Grown as a tree, it will add three feet to its height each year. They are great drought-tolerant trees if you live in a dry area.

Ilex X ‘Nellie R. Stevens’

Mature Height 15-25 feet

Zones – 6-9

Full-sun to partial shade

6. Italian Cypress

For classic looks, you can’t go wrong with the Italian cypress. Its tall, slender silhouette evokes images of Tuscan roads lined with these silent sentinels. While the Italian cypress doesn’t grow as wide as some of the other trees on our list, it makes up for it in how quickly it grows at three feet per year. Look no further if you want an evergreen with a shape other than the usual conical growth.

Cupressus sempervirens

Mature Height 35-40 feet

Zones – 8-10

Full-sun

7. Weeping Willow

These stunning trees make excellent privacy screens and shade trees. Weeping willows grow at a rate of six to eight feet per year, filling out in long draping branches as well. If you’re looking for something more dramatic, the weeping willow is a great choice. Or perhaps the area you hope to screen has drainage issues or is a bit marshy. A weeping willow thrives in damp, soggy areas.

Salix babylonica

Mature Height 30-50 feet

Zones – 4-9

Full-sun to partial shade

You can create a quiet, beautiful oasis in your backyard with the right tree. There’s an option for all of your needs. And in only a couple of years, you’ll have a tall, natural privacy screen.  

The post 7 Fastest Growing Trees for a Natural Privacy Screen appeared first on Rural Sprout.

Biting into a perfect, tree-ripened peach could be the culinary highlight of your summer. That is, if you know the best varieties to plant: three to four years in advance.

Let’s be honest, it takes some work to grow peaches (Prunus persica). For starters, you have to have some land, or a very large container. Then there’s the matter of patience. It’s an absolute must.

It also takes sunshine, rain and a little bit of pruning to to get to a handful of sweet and fuzzy fruits. However, your growing efforts will be well-rewarded down the line.

At the end of this article, we’ll also tempt you with some peach preserves and a mouthful of other peachy recipes to try.

How To Grow Your Own Peaches

I know, the ultimate goal is to get the most delicious harvests ever, as quickly as possible, but if you’re going to cultivate homegrown fruit, it all begins with a seed or a sapling.

Peaches grown from seed are more similar to their parent stock than apples, cherries, pears or plums will ever be. But it comes with the possibility that they may never bear fruit, or that the differences will be too much to bear. It’s worth giving it a try though, planting a few peach pits, just to see what you get.

Rather than starting your own peaches from seed, you’ll want to start with a grafted rootstock.

And if you aren’t so much into plant propagation, you’re always bound to find a nice selection at your local tree nursery.

The trick, they say, to growing peaches is to find a variety that suits your climate.

Peach Tree Varieties Worth Growing

Normally, we’d save the talking about varieties till the end, but peaches are a special case. Unlike apples, they won’t grow just anywhere.

Peaches are suitable for growing in USDA zones 4 to 9. However, if you are gardening and growing in zones 6 to 8, your chances of boasting a flavorful crop are increased.

That’s not to say that peaches can’t survive further up north. You may just need to go with a different variety that’s more cold-tolerant, and perhaps just a bit less sweet.

With more than 300 peach varieties in the U.S. and 2000 worldwide, it can be a little overwhelming to figure out what’s the best peach to plant in your backyard.

For the record, I’d just like to state that the best peach for you is the one you like to devour. Not only dreaming about flavor, think about how you’re going to greedily polish them off. Fresh, cooked, canned, dehydrated? Don’t think for too long, as peaches ripen fast.

You need to know that there are different kinds of peaches with slightly different properties. Let’s start with the pits:

• Freestone Peaches – these peaches are easier to clean as the pit falls easily away from the fruit, making them easy to slice. Perfect for baking, canning, freezing and fresh eating. They tend to be larger than clingstone peaches and not quite as juicy.
• Clingstone Peaches – as the name suggests, these peaches hold tight onto their pits. It’s totally worth the effort of cleaning them with a knife, or some very patient teeth, as they are among the first peaches to be harvested each season. Color-wise, they contain yellow to bright-red flesh, which is sweeter and juicer than freestone peaches. These make the most perfect peach juice and are often used in peach jams, jellies and even compotes, if the variety is a not so melting kind (see below).
• Semi-Free, or Semi-Freestone Peaches – a multi-purpose peach is one that is juicy and sweet with flesh that is easy to remove from the pit. Semi-free peaches can be used for just about anything from cobblers to peach preserves.

Beyond pits, you also need to think about the texture of the fruit: melting or non-melting.

Melting peach varieties ripen quickly, then turn into a delicious sweet mush in your mouth, or when cooked.

Non-melting peach varieties have a unique quality of remaining firm. This is what you’ll indulge in when you consume a whole jar of sliced peaches in one sitting.

And then, there’s the peach color to think about when choosing a variety.

Yellow fleshed peaches are the most common. They are great for baking, grilling, eating fresh or becoming a highlight of a meat and cheese platter.

White fleshed peaches are more of a rarity and that’s what makes them special. They are less tart, with more sugar packed in their cells. Best for adding sweetness to salads, peach sodas and syrups.

Best Peach Varieties To Grow At Home

The best peaches are always harvested at their peak. We’ll return to this thought a little later on, when talking about how and when to harvest peaches.

With so many to choose from, it’s really hard to know what you’ll like, but here are 10 varieties to help you get started on your search:

1. Red Haven
2. Fiesta Gem
3. Galaxy
4. Sweet Bagel
5. Snow Beauty
6. Gala
7. Gold Dust
8. Early Amber
9. July Prince
10. Dixie Red

Once you’ve decided on a variety, now it’s time to get that sapling in the ground.

How To Plant A Peach Tree

Peach trees, like most other fruit and ornamental trees, should be planted in late winter to early summer while the tree is dormant.

In really cold climates where the ground freezes, wait until the soil thaws before planting.

Basically, you plant a bare root peach tree, just as you would plant a plum tree.

Dig a large enough hole, add some compost or well-rotted manure, then cover the roots back up with soil and water. Easy enough, right?

One word of advice: plant your bare root stock as soon as possible after purchasing it. Even the same day. Take care to reduce the amount of stress that the tree is going through, and you’ll be amazed at how well your new peach tree takes to your backyard.

Container-grown trees can wait a little longer before planting.

Choosing A Peach Planting Site

You probably already know that peaches like a lot of sun; make sure to put them in a place where the sun shines for a minimum of 8 hours.

What you might not have heard, is that morning sun will help to dry the morning dew off the peaches. So, if they get some morning sunshine as well, they’ll be loving that.

Soil should be well-draining, never compacted or wet. As far as pH goes, peaches prefer soil that measures between 6 and 6.5.

Another thing of concern is frost. Avoid planting peaches in areas where there is a depression, as frost will settle there first. Always plant on higher ground or close to a building, especially in the case of planting a dwarf peach tree.

In an orchard setting, peach trees should be planted 15-20 feet (5-6 meters) apart.

How To Take Care Of A Peach Tree

As most peaches are self-fertile, you’ll only need to plant one tree to receive a harvestable crop.

However, if you have the space to grow, go ahead and plant two or three if peaches are among your favorite fruits. In this case, you may want to plant different varieties for more diversity in flavor and time of harvest.

Fertilizing Peach Trees

Young peach trees should be watered with a (10-10-10) fertilizer the first time about a week after planting. Then a second time about 6-8 weeks after planting. As long as the fertilizer is balanced, your peaches will be happy. Even with a (12-12-12) or (20-20-20) fertilizer. Only fertilize in spring and mid-summer, never in fall.

When fertilizing fruit trees, never apply the fertilizer right at the base of the tree. Instead, water it in a bit further out, about 8-12 inches (20-30 cm) from the trunk.

It’s not necessary to overdo it either. Newly planted peach trees should receive no more than 1/2 cup of fertilizer per tree. A fully mature tree will need no more than 5 pounds of fertilizer in a single application.

If your peaches are producing too much foliage and not a lot of fruit, be sure to cut back on the nutrients next year.

Pruning Peach Trees

It’s not optional to prune peach trees, it’s an absolute necessity. If left untouched for several years, peach trees are prone to several diseases. At the same time, their branches will bear fewer and fewer fruit with each passing season.

The process is simple: first remove dead, damaged or diseased branches in spring, before the blossoms appear. In other words, prune while they are still dormant.

Next, you need to remove suckers and check for crossing branches. Remove those as well to open up the canopy, allowing for better airflow and light penetration.

It’s wise to know that peaches bear fruit on second-year wood. So, the aspect of keeping your peach tree compact and the fruit reachable is an important one. If you want to eat fruit from your peach tree, yearly pruning is necessary.

Watching Our For Potential Problems

Peaches aren’t the easiest fruit to grow, yet they aren’t the most difficult either. I suspect they are somewhere in between. In reality, it all depends on how much fruit tree growing experience you have.

Peaches have many potential pest problems, though you may never see them at all:

• brown rot
• peach scab
• bacterial spot
• peach leaf curl
• gummosis
• powdery mildew
• crown gall

None of these are things to be scared of, just to be aware of.

If you’ve done a good job of pruning and the weather conditions are favorable, you’ll be ready for a mouthwatering harvest anytime from late June through August.

How & When To Harvest Peaches

Peaches hand-picked from the tree at the right time are beyond heavenly.

They are nothing like the unripe fruit you get from a store; tree-ripened peaches are the most tempting fruits you could ever imagine.

You’ll have to watch and wait, maybe even sample a few peaches to know when they are just right.

You can also go by color if you know from past experience what variety you have growing in your backyard. Basically, ripe peaches have that orangey-yellow peachy color, no green should be left on them at all.

And when you pluck the peaches from the tree, they should come off with a slight twist. If they are hanging on a little too tight, wait another few days and try again.

Peach harvesting tip: the outer fruit on the tree, as well as the fruits at the top, ripen first. Don’t even think about harvesting them all at once.

Another reason to pick peaches directly from the tree is that ripe fruits may bruise easily. This depends on the variety, but it’s worth using caution when ripping from the branches.

A Couple Of Tricks To Storing Peaches

Handpicked peaches harvested in their prime will last a fleeting number of days before they must be eaten.

Peaches picked before their prime will last a bit longer, though you’ll need to ripen them in paper bags to truly enjoy their flavor.

Short-Term Storage

In the fridge, ripe peaches can be stored for a maximum of 5 days. Anything beyond that and they are better used for cooking than fresh eating.

If you have more fresh peaches than you can willfully eat at once, consider making up a small batch of peach butter or peach jam. Or make a peach cobbler and freeze half of it, unless you can eat that all at once.

Long-Term Storage

For long-term storage, canning peaches is definitely the way to go. That is, if you are already into canning and preserving.

Peaches also lend themselves well to freezing. They retain both flavor and color, even shape, if you’ve chosen the right peaches. Frozen peaches can be used in soothing smoothies, tasty crumbles and crisps and your morning bowl of oatmeal. You don’t even need to use sugar or any other sweetener when you freeze your peach slices. They are perfect just as they are.

Peachy Keen Recipes

The best way to consume peaches is to eat them fresh from the tree, with sweet juice dripping down your chin and onto your bare feet. But you can eat way more peaches at once by cooking with them.

If your harvests are abundant, or you get a little too carried away at the farmers market, here are some delectable ways to use up more than one or two peaches at a time:

• Peach Ice Cream from House of Nash Eats
• Best Peach Cobbler from Pinch of Yum
• Best Ever Paleo Peach Crisp {Vegan, Gluten Free} from Paleo Running Momma
• Homemade Fresh Peach Salsa from Modern Meal Makeover
• Peach and Burrata Caprese from Delish
• Fresh Peach Chutney from It’s Not Complicated
• Canning Peaches In Light Syrup from Rural Sprout

If you are feeling overwhelmed with too many peaches on your hands (that’s a problem we’d all like to have), you can always freeze peaches too. Whole, de-skinned and chopped, or puréed, whatever way they fit into your freezer.

You’ll always be able to find peaches at the store, but with homegrown peaches tasting so much better, it’s time to think about planting your own trees. In the meantime, eat up all the peaches you can, trying out as many recipes as possible to further your knowledge of this delectable fruit.

The post Peach Tree: Planting, Caring & Harvesting Your Own Peaches appeared first on Rural Sprout.

If you’re lucky enough to have your own fruit trees, then you know there is no comparison to the flavor and juiciness of a freshly picked peach or apple from your orchard. Nothing in the supermarket or even the farmer’s market can compare. But you also know these trees require work and patience to produce delectable fruit.

In late spring-early summer, it’s time to tackle one of the most important fruit tree tasks of the year – thinning.

It may seem strange, but if you want to ensure the overall health of your fruit trees and yield a bumper crop of fruit later, you need to thin out some of the fruit earlier in the season. Thinning some of the green fruit has several benefits, which we’ll cover here.

Why Do You Need to Thin Fruit Trees?

When we plant fruit trees, we all have this ideal picture in our minds. We’ll walk out our back door to our small orchard and pick the perfect, sun-blushed peach. When we bite into it, the juice will crush into our mouth and dribble down our chin and arm.

But for far too many fruit tree owners, the reality is years of feast or famine and a lot of pest damage. Or worse, when you start to get a good crop, the deer eat it. It seems like the stars have to align just right for us to get a consistently good crop.

Related Reading:

How We Started A Deer-Proof, Drought Resistant Backyard Orchard

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Thinning out fruit early in the season can go a long way to getting a bumper crop from your orchard this year and each year after that.

When you look at your fruit trees and finally see tons of tiny green apples, pears or plums, the last thing you want to do is yank a bunch of them off and toss them on the compost pile.

But that’s exactly what you need to do to ensure a good harvest.

It helps to think of your tree as a battery. For every tiny blossom that developed into a fruit, energy was used from the battery. And more energy is needed to make those fruits grow and to produce fruit again next year. Thinning your fruit allows the tree to put energy where it’s needed most.

Let’s take a look at the benefits of thinning.

Blossom Production

If you get an especially large crop, the tree can put so much energy into growing and ripening it that the tree’s energy stores needed for blossom production the following year will be depleted. Rather than putting out blossoms next year, the tree will still be recuperating from the previous year’s intense effort.

This is a big part of why so many folks have cyclical years – one year; they have a ton of fruit, and the next barely any. It can take an entire growing season for a fruit tree to recuperate from the nutrient-load of unthinned fruit the year prior. Thinning out your fruit ensures the tree has enough energy to produce blossoms each year consistently.

Quality and Size

If you leave all that fruit on the tree, you’ll most likely end up with lots of stunted fruit of mediocre flavor and quality. Thinning out the fruit allows the tree to put more energy into the remaining fruit. You end up with larger, more flavorful fruit.

Increased Airflow and Sun

Any longtime gardener can attest to what happens when plants grow together in cramped conditions with very little airflow. These dank close quarters become the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, disease, and mold. Before you know it, most of the fruit is rotting on the ground.

By thinning out your initial fruit set, you greatly improve airflow to each fruit, reducing the risk of disease. You also allow more sunshine to reach the fruit, which is important for certain fruits to ripen properly. Sun exposure is what gives peaches that lovely blush for which they’re known.   

Lessen the Chance of Disease Spreading

You know that old saying, “One bad apple spoils the bunch.” That’s because when the fruit is stored closely together, disease can easily spread from one apple to the next. Believe it or not, the same thing occurs while the fruit is still on the tree.

When you intentionally thin out fruit and create space between each piece of fruit, you lessen the chance of diseases spreading; this goes hand in hand with airflow.  

Most importantly, thinning can prevent disaster.

My sweetie has three peach trees growing in his front yard. Two summers ago, we had a massive crop of peaches. We didn’t thin out the young fruit, so hundreds of peaches were on the trees. As the season progressed and the fruit ripened, several limbs began to bend with the weight of the fruit.

We watched as the branches bent lower to the ground each day. Every time it rained, they would touch the ground.

The peaches weren’t ready to be picked. They needed to stay on the tree to ripen further. Yet we knew the weight of the fruit could easily break one of these branches. We kept wondering what we should do.

And then, one night, it happened.

We had a thunderstorm, and although the winds weren’t bad, it was enough to snap one of the overloaded limbs off one of the trees.

Not only did we lose the branch and the fruit on it, but the next spring, we realized we had lost the entire tree. It had succumbed to disease due to the open wound left by the broken limb.

And we lost much of the fruit that season. Because it was so crowded, the peaches rubbed together and rotted on the tree. It seemed that for every nice peach we picked, we threw three or four on the compost pile.

What Fruit Trees Benefit from Thinning?

It’s quite simple; if it grows on a tree and is a fruit, you should consider thinning once the fruit has been set.

• Apples
• Pears
• Peaches
• Nectarines
• Plums
• Apricots

When is the Best Time to Thin the Fruit?

There are two ideal times to thin based on your experience and preference. The earliest time to thin is immediately after the fruit has set.

Experienced gardeners know this gives the remaining fruit the longest time on the tree, receiving the most nutrients. You end up with larger fruit.

However, if you thin early, you may be left with a smaller overall harvest after what’s known as the “June Drop.”                                                                                                                                             

June Drop

June Drop is a natural process that occurs when a tree has an especially abundant amount of fruit. The tree will drop smaller fruit or fruit that’s been infested with insects.

This natural thinning usually occurs in June, hence the name. Although, depending on your growing season, you may experience June Drop in May.

Yes, even after your tree has done some thinning of its own, you should still thin out the remaining fruit.

If you don’t thin immediately after fruit set, then June Drop is your cue to manually thin fruit. Waiting until after the June Drop means you’re waiting longer, and fruit that will eventually be thinned is using up nutrients. But this method still has its advantages. Namely, you have less fruit to pick through, and it should now be easier to spot diseased, smaller or deformed fruit as nature has done much of the work for you.

How to Thin Your Fruit Tree

You can use a pair of pruners to remove fruit or simply pull it off with your hand. If you have larger trees, you may need a pole fruit picker to reach taller branches.

Look for especially small fruit, bunches of fruit that are rubbing together or any fruit with obvious pest damage or disease. Depending on the type of fruit, you’ll want to create a minimum of space between each. Here is a handy spacing guide for thinning common fruit trees.

• Apricot – thin to one every four inches
• Apple – grows in clusters, thin to one cluster every six inches, remove smaller inner fruit from each cluster
• Nectarine – thin to one every four to six inches
• Peaches – thin to one every six inches
• Pears – grows in clusters, thin to one cluster every six inches, remove smaller inner fruit from each cluster
• Plums – thin to one every four to six inches

Toss the thinned fruit into the compost bin or give it to livestock.

The first time you do this, it feels counterintuitive, almost wrong. But it only takes a few weeks of watching the remaining fruit grow to see what a difference thinning your fruit tree makes. And come late summer, you’ll reap the benefits of your thinning. Whether it’s canning apricot jam or making hard cider with your apples, you’ll have plenty of fruit to work with.

And because you have thinned your trees, you’ll also have a much better harvest the following year. You’re well on your way to a successful backyard orchard.

Read Next:

23 Common Apple Tree Problems You Need To Look Out For

The post How to Thin Fruit Trees – The Key to an Exceptional Crop Every Year appeared first on Rural Sprout.

Lemons are one of the most versatile fruits for cooking and baking, but did you know you can grow them at home?

While most citrus trees need to grow outdoors in warm, humid climates, the Meyer lemon tree will happily grow in a pot in your home.

We’ve been growing our own lemons indoors for years and are happy to share our best tips so you can do the same.

Why Grow Meyer Lemon Trees?

If you’ve never tasted a fresh Meyer lemon, you truly don’t know what you’re missing!

Meyer lemons are sweeter than average lemons and make the most amazing lemonade you’ve ever tasted. The reason you don’t see them for sale in grocery stores very often is that their soft skin makes it harder to ship them without damage.

But you don’t have to buy Meyer lemons when you can grow them. When grown in a pot this tree maxes out around 4 feet tall, which makes it easy to grow in your home.

Growing a Meyer lemon tree is easy as long as you have the right tools and knowledge going into it. This guide will show you all the basics of how to grow your own lemons at home.

Lemon Tree Buying Tips

When buying your Meyer lemon tree, make sure you’re buying from a reputable nursery with lots of positive reviews. If possible, buy your tree from a local nursery so you can return it easily if there are issues. Buying locally also eliminates the stress of shipping the tree to your home.

If you can’t find a lemon tree locally, there are a lot of nurseries online but they’re not all created equal. We’ve bought many fruit trees online and only about a quarter of them have ended up being healthy and long-lasting. We have found Stark Bros to be a very reputable company that sells healthy trees. 

It pays off to buy the biggest and oldest tree that you can afford and will fit in your home. Because it takes Meyer Lemon trees several years to produce fruit, buying an older tree will give you a major jump start on growing fruit. You might even get to harvest lemons in your first growing season! 

The first lemon tree we bought was only a foot tall and it took many years before it started producing fruit. The second tree we bought was several years old already and was flowering on arrival. It was well worth the extra expense to save years of caring for a non-fruiting tree.

Light

One of the most important factors in growing a lemon tree indoors is providing proper light. Fruit trees love to soak up the sun, so whether you’re growing your tree indoors, outdoors, or a mix of both, you’ll need to make sure you’re providing enough light.

Indoor light

The very best place for a lemon tree to grow is outdoors, where it gets lots of sun. Most of us, unfortunately, don’t live in a region where we can grow lemon trees outside year-round, so we have to make do with an indoor arrangement. To give your lemon tree the best chance for success, place it in a south facing window so it gets bright light for the majority of the day. 

We also hang a grow light over our lemon tree and use it every day to add supplemental light. If you want to make it easy on yourself, plug the grow light into an automatic timer so it will come on in the morning for a few hours and in the evening for a few hours. 

We set our timer to turn the grow light on from 5 am to 8 am, then it shuts off during the day when the natural light is coming in and turns back on again from 5 pm to 8 pm. This system has worked well for us during very dark winters in Western New York, but you may need to adjust the timings for your own region and preferences.

Outdoor light

If possible, move your lemon tree outside when the weather is consistently staying above 50 degrees. No matter how grand your indoor plant setup is, it can’t compete with actual sunlight, fresh air, insect pollinators, and wind. The healthiest thing for your lemon tree is to spend at least a few months per year outdoors. 

Lemon trees prefer full sun, eight hours per day is best but they can also survive in partial shade. Find the sunniest spot in your yard to park your lemon tree for the summer and it will be so happy!

When we move our lemon tree outside in the summer, we do so gradually. Since it’s spent many winter months indoors it needs to adjust to the new environment slowly. This hardening-off process ensures your tree won’t get stressed by the sudden change. Stressed lemon trees can lose a lot of leaves and attract nasty pests pretty quickly, so it pays off to go slow. 

We like to start off by putting the tree in a shady part of the yard for the first week. Once the tree is acclimated to the shady spot, we move it to partial sun for half of the day and repeat that for another week. After that, you’re free to put your lemon tree in full sun (if you have it) full time.

Soil and Potting

Citrus trees purchased at nurseries usually need to be re-potted right away. The nursery should supply you with instructions for care, including how and when to re-pot the tree. In case they don’t, it’s generally a good idea to get the tree into a roomier pot during the first week. Most plants purchased from nurseries are root-bound and ready to size up. 

To repot the plant, simply slide it out of its current pot, gently loosen the roots with your fingers so they can spread out a little bit, and plant it in a new pot that’s a little roomier than the current pot. Be sure that the pot you choose for your tree has drainage holes in the bottom, as Meyer lemon trees don’t like sitting in wet soil.

We usually re-pot our tree every summer, giving it a slightly bigger pot and fresh soil. This is also a good time to look for any root disease or insect pests and take care of them.

Citrus trees love light, loamy soil that drains really well. There are lots of great soils on the market specifically for citrus trees, and using that is generally your best bet for success. If you can’t find the right soil locally, you can mix regular potting soil with sphagnum peat moss to help it drain better. 

Water

Watering a potted tree can be tricky. Overwatering will lead to root rot while underwatering can cause your tree to die from neglect. So how do you know how much is enough?

I use a very simple method of sticking my index finger into the soil up to the second knuckle. If the soil feels moist, I wait to water, if the soil feels dry, I water the tree thoroughly. 

If you keep your lemon tree outdoors in the summer you’ll need to water much more frequently. During the hottest parts of summer, you may even need to water every day. Potted plants need a little more TLC than plants in the ground in the summer because they dry out more quickly and can’t dig deeper with their roots to find water, so they’re solely dependent on you to provide it. 

Fertilizing

Citrus trees tend to be pretty heavy feeders, so you will definitely need to supplement your Meyer lemon tree with fertilizer several times per year. The soil in the pot just doesn’t supply enough nutrients for the tree to grow new leaves and fruit. 

The best kind of fertilizer for lemon trees is one that is specifically formulated for citrus trees.

There are tons of different kinds on the market, from organic fertilizers to spikes that you stick in the soil, to foliar sprays that you put on the leaves. Use whichever kind of fertilizer appeals to your gardening style. The most important thing is that you remember to consistently apply it. Your fertilizer package will tell you exactly how much and how often to feed your tree.

When you apply fertilizer to a potted tree, place the fertilizer as close to the edge of the pot and away from the tree trunk as possible. You want to mimic the tree’s natural drip line.

We like to mark the calendar every time we do a feeding and plan ahead for the next one by putting that on the calendar too. That way the feeds are never forgotten and our lemon tree stays happy and fruiting.

Pollination

Meyer lemon trees tend to flower in the spring and in the fall, although if your lighting situation is a little wonky, they can flower at other times of the year too. 

While a lot of fruit trees require two or more trees to get proper pollination, this isn’t the case with the Meyer lemon tree. Meyers are self-pollinating, which means the pollen in the flowers from a single tree can pollinate other flowers on that same tree. This is great news if you’re growing your lemon tree indoors because you don’t need to find space for two trees.

If you’re keeping your lemon tree outside when they flower, you shouldn’t need to worry about pollination. The insects and the wind will make it happen. However, if you’re keeping your lemon tree indoors at all times, you’re going to need to do a little extra work. 

Indoor lemon trees may need to be hand-pollinated when they bloom. In my experience, the flowers that don’t get hand-pollinated don’t produce fruit. Thankfully, pollination is easy enough to do by hand.

Use a paintbrush, makeup brush, or q-tip to gently rub the inside of a flower, the goal is to get lots of yellow pollen on the brush. Then use that same brush to rub the inside of another flower, making sure to transfer some of that pollen to the bulbous stigma in the center of the flower. Repeat the process for all open flowers on the tree. If the flowers are ready for pollination the stigma will be sticky and will accept the pollen easily. 

An alternative way to hand pollinate is to pick a flower from the tree and rub it gently on the other flowers.

It’s impossible to know outright which flowers will yield fruit, but to give yourself the best chance of success, repeat this process every few days for as long as you have open blooms on the tree.

Pruning

Just because you are growing a petite lemon tree indoors doesn’t mean you get out of pruning it. It’s more important to prune a Meyer lemon that spends most of its life inside, as you will want to create a compact shape.

Pruning a fruit tree isn’t as difficult as one would imagine; in reality, you will always be making only two different cuts – heading and thinning.

Heading cuts promote new growth.

A heading cut is when you cut off a section of a branch, but you’re still leaving a portion of it. For example, you may only cut half of a branch off or two-thirds of it. Because you have left a portion of the branch in tact, there will still be leaves and nodes signaling to the tree that growth is occurring on that branch. The tree will put energy into growing new branches at the site of the cut.

Heading cuts encourage prolific growth. If one side of your tree isn’t as full as the other, do a heading cut or two on branches in the thinner area. It seems counterintuitive, but this will signal to the tree to grow branches on those heading cuts, and that side of the tree will fill out.

Thinning cuts fully remove oddly shaped branches, branches that are too long, or branches that may be in the way.

With a thinning cut, you’re removing the entire branch. You’ll make the cut at the base of the branch where it meets up with the larger limb or even the trunk where it’s growing.

Because there are no nodes left to signal to the tree to continue to grow, no new growth will occur where the branch was removed.

When pruning your Meyer, it’s important to remember you can take off up to a third of the tree at a time. Give your tree at least six months to recover between major trim jobs. However, a branch or two here and there is fine.

Common Meyer Lemon Pests & Diseases

The great thing about growing a Meyer lemon tree indoors is avoiding many of the more serious diseases and pests that plague citrus. But there are still a few to watch out for.

Spider Mites

One of the most common pests that affect indoor citrus is spider mites. You most likely won’t be able to see the mites, but you will be able to see their presence. The first sign is often leaves with tiny yellow stippling all over them. A closer look will reveal fine webbing on the leaves and branches. Tracey has a helpful guide on how to deal with spider mites.

Spider mites prefer dry environments, so one of the easiest things you can do to prevent an infestation is to mist your lemon tree frequently. You may want to mist it daily during the dry winter months.

Scale

Another common pest among indoor citrus is scale. You may notice brown, waxy bumps on the stems of your Meyer lemon or even a shiny, sticky substance on the leaves and area around your tree. Scale can be a pain to get rid of and requires immediate attention and quarantining of your plant. Again, Tracey can give you the full details on how to get rid of scale on your lemon tree.

Root Rot

A fungus causes root rot, and it’s most likely one of the only diseases your indoor citrus plant may have to deal with. Root rot is caused by overwatering your plants and using containers that don’t have drainage holes. This allows a fungus to infect the root system. Left untreated, root rot can quickly kill a plant. Learn everything you need to know to treat and prevent root rot.

Harvesting Fruit

One of the only tough things about growing Meyer lemon trees indoors is waiting for the fruit to ripen so you can eat it. Unlike some types of fruit, you need to wait until the Meyer lemon fruit is completely ripe on the tree before harvesting it. If you’re exclusively growing the tree indoors, this can take six months, or even up to a whole year for the fruit to ripen. Trees that are grown outdoors for some of the year will ripen more quickly. 

When your lemons are bright yellow and slightly soft to the touch, they’re ready to cut off the tree and enjoy. You can use Meyer lemons the same way as any other type of lemon, but our favorite way is to make them into lemonade.

Now that you know how to care for a Meyer lemon tree, beware, because before you know it, you’ll be moving on to all sorts of other fruit trees. You would be amazed at the variety of fruit trees you can grow indoors.

We love to tell people that our Meyer lemon tree is at fault for the ever-growing orchard in our backyard. Growing fruit is so rewarding, that it’s hard to stop. Even if you don’t have a lot of outdoor space, there’s a fruit tree for you.

The post How To Grow A Meyer Lemon Tree Indoors That Actually Produces Lemons appeared first on Rural Sprout.

The type of soil you have in your garden will have a big impact on the plants you are able to grow. One common soil type is clay, or heavy clay.

When some gardeners see clay soil – they run a mile.

And clay soil certainly does bring its challenges. But manage and improve it correctly, and choose the right plants, and you can definitely still have a delightful and successful garden. 

My own garden has a neutral to slightly acidic clay-loam soil. So this is a soil type I know well.

I am lucky to have a loam soil – ideal for gardeners and growers.

But I am also familiar with the challenges that gardening in clay soils can bring, since my soil does share some of the characteristics (good and bad) that are experienced by those with an even more clay-rich soil. 

In this article, I will list 100 plant suggestions for clay soils – trees, shrubs and climbers, annual fruits/ vegetables for clay, and flowering perennials for this soil type.

But before we get to that, let’s take a quick look at the basics.

Do You Have Clay Soil?

The first thing is to determine whether or not you actually have clay soil.

Knowing your soil is essential if you are to manage and improve your soil correctly. It is also, of course, essential when choosing plants. 

Clay soil has particles that are less than 0.002mm in size. This distinguishes it from other soil types, like silt and sandy soil, for example, which have larger particles. 

There are a number of different ways to determine whether or not you have clay soil where you live. 

Get a Soil Test Done

Firstly, you could consider having a soil sample taken and getting a professional scientific test done.

The benefit of taking this approach is that you cannot only find out your soil type, but also other information about its pH level, its nutrient profile, and whether it contains contaminants. 

But for most home gardeners, getting a soil test done is not really necessary.

Careful observation will usually tell you what you need to know about your soil type. 

Test Soil Yourself

Take a handful of soil, add some water. If you can roll the mixture into a ball, then into a bendable sausage shape with your hands, then your soil has a high proportion of clay in it. 

Another way to learn about your soil is to put some into a jar with water.

Leave it for a day or so, or overnight, and the different sized particles/minerals will stratify.

You should be able to see layers forming in the jar.

Larger sand particles and small rocks settle to the bottom, while larger clay particles will settle closer to the top.

If the layer of clay particles in your jar is much thicker than the other layers, then you can determine that you have a predominantly clay soil. 

Look Out For Tell-Tale Signs

If you have clay soil, you can also see this by looking at your garden over time. Look out for:

• Puddles that remain in your garden for a long time after heavy rains. Or for boggy/ waterlogged ground that remains sodden for long periods.
• Soil that becomes hard and develops cracks or fissures after long dry periods. 
• Soil that is dense and difficult to dig. 

Observing the weeds and other plants already growing in your garden can also tell you a lot about your soil. 

When it comes to weeds, the following will tend to flourish in clay soil:

• Dandelions
• Plantain
• Chicory
• Horse nettle
• Coltsfoot
• Mouse-ear chickweed
• Morning glory
• Knotweed
• Quack grass
• Bermuda grass

So if you have a lot of these, this could be another indicator that you have a large proportion of clay in your soil. 

The Good and Bad Points of Clay Soils

Clay soils can be challenging because of their dense, heavy texture. The characteristics of clay soil unfortunately mean that it:

• Is more prone to waterlogging and muddiness.
• Can have more of a problem with compaction than other soil types. 
• Does not incorporate water as quickly or easily, so run-off can be a problem.
• Freezes more readily in winter.
• And is much slower to warm in the spring. 
• Is heavy, and harder to dig/ work than other soils. (Though this should not often be an issue in a ‘no dig’ garden.)

But clay soil does have one massive advantage – it is incredibly fertile, and contains and retains more nutrients than other types of soil.

So when you manage and improve clay soil correctly, and choose the right plants, it can actually be one of the best types of soil to have in your garden. 

5 Ways To Improve Clay Soil

Clay soil will always have certain limitations but by taking the right approaches and gardening in the right ways, you can make sure those limitations don’t get in the way of creating a great garden.

Over time, you can begin to turn your heavy clay soil into a rich yet freer draining loam, and increase the range of plants that you are able to grow. 

1. Take a No Dig Gardening Approach

With a clay soil garden, taking a ‘no dig’ gardening approach is a brilliant idea.

Disturbing the soil as little as possible can help avoid issues with compaction, keep it healthy, and save you a whole lot of back-breaking work too. 

2. Add Organic Material

In a no dig garden, you won’t take the traditional route and dig organic matter into the soil.

Instead, you will lay material on top of the soil and let the bacteria, fungi, earthworms and other soil life do the work to incorporate it. 

Especially when you have a heavy clay soil, adding organic material should be a top priority. Increasing the amount of organic matter in the soil will help improve soil texture.

It will also allow it to drain more easily. 

And laying mulches on the soil surface will help to avoid issues with run-off in wet weather, and prevent the soil from drying out and cracking when the weather is warm and dry.

It can also help reduce freezing in winter, and potentially allow soil to warm up more quickly in spring.

3. Manage Water Effectively in Your Garden

Managing water in your garden goes hand in hand with taking care of the soil. If you have a big problem with waterlogging, earthworks could help you manage this problem more effectively.

For example, you might make land drains, vegetated swales, rain gardens or ponds to handle excess water. 

(One benefit on a heavy clay site might be that you can make a pond or water reservoir without needing a liner, since the clay may hold the water in place.)

Planting also plays a very important role in water management in your garden. It is particularly crucial in a clay soil site. You should:

• Plant ‘thirsty’ trees and shrubs to sup up excess water from the soil.
• Including plenty of deciduous trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials that will provide sources of organic matter.
• Add plenty of plants in general to soak up and store water, and avoid bare soil.
• Utilise deep rooted plants (such as comfrey, for example) to open up channels down through the subsoil. This can help with drainage of the clay topsoil layer. 

If flooding/ waterlogging is particularly bad, creating raised beds in the area could be the best solution. 

4. Avoid Compaction

Plants with strong roots will also help to break up and aerate heavy clay soil and avoid compaction.

If you have clay soil, compaction can be a particular problem for you.

In addition to choosing the right plants, other important ways to avoid compaction include taking care of water, and making sure you do not trample or compress the soil in your growing areas. 

5. Protect Your Clay Soil Over Winter

Winter is the most difficult time for clay soils. This is when they are most likely to become waterlogged, compacted or frozen.

But you can protect your soil over winter by planting winter green manures. These protect the soil and also give you more organic matter to chop and drop in spring. 

To keep your growing efforts going all year round, you could also consider covering growing areas with a greenhouse or polytunnel.

This will keep off heavy rains, snows and frosts. 

The Best Plants for Clay Soils

Before I list some of my top picks for clay soils, it is worthwhile pointing out that soil type is only one of the factors that you should consider when choosing plants for your garden. 

Gardens with clay soil can, of course, vary very widely in their other characteristics. You will of course need to take your climate and the microclimate of your garden into account.

You’ll also have to consider soil pH, and how extreme the clay soil you have is. The closer it is to a loam, and the less heavy and dense the clay, the wider the range of plants that you will be able to grow. 

Not all of the plants on the list will be suitable for the conditions in your garden, nor necessarily for where you live.

But on this list, you should be able to find at least some options that will suit. 

25 Trees for Clay Soils

Certain fruit trees, including:

• Apple Trees
• Crabapple Trees
• Pear Trees
• Quince

• Medlars
• Certain Prunus varietals (plum and cherry etc.)
• Elderberry
• Serviceberry (Amelanchier)
• Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree)

Also:

• Many oaks
• Birch
• Ash
• Rowan/ Mountain Ash
• Acer

• Alder
• Aspen
• Magnolia
• Hawthorn (Crataegus)
• Laburnum
• Holly

• Eucalyptus pauciflora (snow gum trees)
• Pines
• Juniper
• Thuja
• Chamaecyparis

25 Shrubs and Climbers for Clay Soils

• Roses (a wide variety)
• Berberis
• Lilac
• Euonymus

• Flowering Quince
• Mahonia
• Viburnums
• Fuchsias
• Hydrangeas

• Aronia
• Ribes sanguineum (flowering currant)
• Forsythia
• Potentilla
• Weigela

• Diervilla
• Cornus (dogwood)
• Leycesteria formosa
• Cotoneaster
• Pyracantha

And climbers/ wall shrubs such as

• Ivy
• Various clematis
• Honeysuckle
• Garrya elliptica
• Golden hops
• Rose filipes

20 Fruits, Vegetables & Other Edibles for Clay Soils

Shallow rooted leafy crops which benefit from clay soil’s ability to retail water in the topsoil. For example:

• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Chard

Brassica crops tend to do well in clay because they like to be firmly anchored, and clay soil’s structure allows this. Brassicas include:

• Cabbage
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Kale

• Brussels sprouts
• Kohlrabi
• Turnips
• Mustard

(Mustard can also be a beneficial green manure, which can help in adding organic matter to improve aeration and drainage in heavy clay soils.)

Plants with deep roots, that break up the clay soil with their roots. For example:

• Fava beans
• Alfalfa

Roots and tubers that also help to reduce soil compaction and break up the clay, such as:

• Potatoes
• Daikon radishes

Hungry crops will benefit from the nutrient rich clay soil types. Examples of crops that will like a rich clay soil include:

• Squash
• Zucchini

Other edibles that do well in clay soil include:

• Bush beans
• Pole beans
• Peas

30 Flowering Perennials For Clay Soil

• Comfrey
• Hostas
• Heuchera
• Anemone x hybrida
• Aster

• Geranium
• Iris
• Miscanthus
• Bergenia cordifolias
• Rudbeckia

• Monarda (bee balm)
• Astilbe
• Campanula
• Buddleia
• Day lily

• Aster
• Echinacea
• Geum
• Helenium
• Hepatica

• Joe Pye Weed
• Spigelia marilandica
• Lungwort
• Ox-eye daisy
• Phlox

• Sedum
• Rose Campion
• Solomon’s Seal
• Meadow rue
• Persicaria
• Liatris

The list above is by no means exhaustive. Clay soil, especially that which is managed and improved, can support and sustain a huge range of different plants.

So, though clay soil is not always ideal, you should still be able to create a beautiful and productive outside space.

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