For many the New Year is a time for reflection, rebirth and growth. For Mother Nature, the New Year is a time of rest and hibernation, a time to slow down and conserve energy for the spring season. At Weidner’s we also slow down after the busy Poinsettia season and focus a bit more energy tending to the care of our spring crop of home grown specialties and spring color. In the garden center we have stocked our new greenhouse with a wonderful selection of indoor plants, we have our bare root fruit trees and berries available for purchase and as always, we keep our steady inventory of succulents, perennials and veggies looking their best.
In this month’s blog we want to focus on bare root fruit trees and also a little bit about winter care for your existing fruit trees…
Bare root fruit trees are preferred over more mature trees because they establish themselves quicker in your home orchard. The best time to plant them depends on the variety but you want to get them in the ground before they start pushing new growth. We encourage you to plant your bare root trees as soon as possible after getting them home. Make sure to check the root stock, it should have roots all around the root ball. Depending on your space, there are many different varieties to choose from – Spice Zee Nectaplum, Santa Rosa Plum, Eva’s Pride Peach, Minnie Royal Cherry, and Beverly Hills Apple are just some of the options you will find here at Weidners Gardens.
For those of you who have already started your home orchard, winter is the time to treat with a dormant spray for any pest issues. Dormant sprays work well when there is less foliage and the spray can reach more surface area of the tree itself. Horticultural oils and fungicides to help control pests such as scale, aphids and mites and also issues like peach leaf curl are available in our retail shop.
Dave Wilson’s site is a great resource for backyard orchard culture – https://www.davewilson.com/home-garden/
We look forward to seeing you all in 2022!
Your Friendly Staff at Weidners Garden