Spring processing of fruit trees and shrubs

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

For amateur gardeners, the priority is to obtain an environmentally friendly, healthy harvest. Therefore, it is important to know when to carry out spring processing of fruit trees and shrubs as early as possible. We bring to your attention step-by-step instructions with photos and tips that will tell you the correct order of work and suitable materials for this.

The right time for processing

Previously, in Central Russia, similar work began in the first half of March. Now these dates have shifted due to global warming and weather changes. Therefore, the spring processing of fruit trees and shrubs should be carried out, focusing on the temperature regime. As soon as the sun warms the air up to +5 degrees, you can actively start working.

It is important not to miss the moment when the first rays become scorching for the bark of the trunks. Young seedlings are especially affected by this kind of damage, since they do not yet have a thick protective layer. Because of this, small rodents, insects and various diseases harm them much more.

Gardening with pesticides and other chemicals should be done in calm, windless weather. It is best to do this after 4 pm so that the drops of the solution do not turn into lenses under the rays of the sun and do not cause even more damage to the buds and branches.

Naturally, during the period of prolonged precipitation or on foggy days, vigorous plant protection activities will have to be postponed.

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Preparatory stage

Before processing fruit trees and shrubs in early spring, all plants must be properly prepared:

• with a special brush, clean the old bark to a fresh layer. Larvae and eggs of pests hibernate under pieces of dead wood; without cleaning the trunk, substances dangerous for insects and fungus will not benefit the plant;
• remove unnecessary shoots on shrubs, young branches and dried parts on fruit trees;
• cover fresh cuts on the trunks with a special garden pitch;
• thoroughly clean the stabbed areas of the soil from rotten leaves and remnants of fallen fruits.

Since the work on the spring processing of fruit trees and shrubs falls on the period of night frosts, experienced gardeners must dig in a place around the plants. This is necessary in order to turn out insect larvae and spores of various fungal diseases together with earthy clods. In the process of work, these places will be easier to treat with chemical solutions.

Safety engineering

When working with various means for the destruction of pests and diseases on fruit trees and shrubs in early spring and during the following periods, personal protective equipment should be purchased:

• thick glasses with rubber edging;
• long gloves for gardening;
• knee-high boots;
• respirator or gauze bandage;
• special clothing made of dense fabric.

Be sure to remove animals from the garden, do not allow the presence of children and the elderly. You should also make some noise so that the birds fly to other areas, especially if the garden is large.

Treatment should be carried out with a special sprayer with a long handle. This will allow the solution to reach the uppermost parts of the tree, rather than sticking to clothing or the ground. They always start working from the top to the bottom so that the liquid is evenly distributed over all branches.

Whitewashing of trunks

The bark of fruit trees and shrubs is a reliable refuge for the spores of diseases and parasites, therefore, in early spring, it must be treated with the following compounds to choose from:

• Green Squre. A preparation based on acrylic paints with fungicides. Easy to use, but quickly washed off by rains, you will have to monitor the integrity of the paint throughout the season.
• Concord Ost. Acrylic paint with increased strength and good toughness. Its protective properties are based on crushed clay particles mixed with an adhesive.
• Gardener. The ready-made solution is sold in a convenient container, consists of slaked lime and copper sulfate.

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It is important to remember that it is impossible to whitewash young trees with acrylic paints, since the young peel on the trunks is very thin, and the coating will not allow the plant to breathe. For this purpose, it is better to use whitewash prepared by yourself in several ways:

1. Mix in a suitable container 2 kg of slaked lime, 0.3 kg of copper sulfate and 1 tbsp. l. carbolic acid. Pour 10 liters of warm water over the mass. Such manipulation should be carried out only on the street!
2. Dissolve 2.5 kg of ordinary construction chalk in 10 liters of warm water. Grate laundry soap here on a large grater (you will need 10 tbsp. L. Shavings). Let the solution brew, mix by hand or with a construction mixer until smooth.
3. In a plastic container, stir 2 kg of slaked lime, 2 kg of oily white clay and 1.5 kg of ferrous sulfate. Pour 10 liters of warm water over the mass, mix thoroughly with a stick or a construction mixer.

It is important to remember that barrel paint should have the consistency of thick sour cream. The purpose of whitewashing is to create a protective layer 2-3 cm thick on the trunk and the bases of the central branches. It is recommended to cover the plants with a white layer one third of their height.

Crown protection

Before budding in early spring, it is recommended to treat the branches of fruit trees and shrub shoots with special insecticides.

Here it is important to understand the huge amount of chemical mixtures that manufacturers produce to help gardeners. Each of them has its own terms of use and a strictly defined action.

The following preparations are most often used for the spring processing of fruit trees and shrubs:

1. Nitrofen. Kills literally all insects and their offspring, but does not protect against diseases and fungal parasites. You cannot use the remedy if the kidneys are already swollen - it literally burns out delicate formations.
2. Copper or iron vitriol. Effectively disinfects wounds and cracks in the bark of plants, removes mosses and lichens, protects against various caterpillars and larvae. An important condition is the choice of the temperature regime for the spring processing of fruit trees and shrubs, with night frosts the substance stops "working". But if you spray them with swollen buds or young foliage, you can destroy the plants.
3. Urea (urea). The best and most proven solution for the control of garden pests and the simultaneous fertilization of the near-stem soil with nitrogen. Also needs a stable temperature outside.

It is important to remember that the composition slows down the growth of buds and leaves somewhat, as if dipping plants into hibernation. This helps protect gooseberries or apple trees from spring frost.

In the presented list, only the main preparations for the spring processing of fruit trees and shrubs are indicated.

In fact, there are many more of them, each has its own area of impact and quality. Therefore, when buying a particular chemical fungicide, an amateur gardener should carefully read the instructions and recommendations of the manufacturer indicated on the package.

Folk remedies for plant protection

Some plants have strong fungicidal and antibacterial properties. This quality is successfully used by the owners of orchards and vegetable gardens, who in principle do not want to use chemicals.

Solutions based on various herbs act much more slowly, so they have to be used several times. But such mixtures are absolutely harmless to humans and animals, they do not leave insoluble trace elements in the fruits and are completely decomposed in the soil.

There are many formulations that actively destroy diseases and pests when treating shrubs and fruit trees in early spring without harming the environment.

Wood ash

It is necessary to bring to a boil a mixture of 3 kg of combustion product and 10 liters of water. Then dilute the concentrate in a 1: 1 ratio and thoroughly spray the crown of a tree or bush.

Tobacco leaves

Insist in a suitable container for 2 days a mixture of 400 g of crushed dry leaves of a plant and warm water. Then it is diluted with clean water in a 1: 2 ratio, 40 g of laundry soap is rubbed here and the plants are sprayed.

Pharmacy chamomile

A kilogram of crushed raw materials must be poured with 10 liters of boiling water, let it brew for 12 hours. Dilute the infusion with clean water in the amount of 30 liters and rub a small piece of old soap into the solution. Stir well, strain, spray bushes and fruit trees every 10 days until bud break. This composition will protect the crop from aphids and caterpillars of various types.

Sagebrush

Pour the dried and finely chopped raw materials with hot water in a ratio of 1: 4. Cover the container with the infusion with a lid, stand it for a day. Strain, add another 6 liters of clean water and rub the soap here.

Common tansy

Pour 300 g of dried and crushed raw materials with 3 liters of boiling water, let it brew under the lid for about 2 days. Dilute 7 liters of clean water, you can add shavings from laundry soap. Mix thoroughly and strain.

Garlic

Fragrant heads will save fruit trees and shrubs in early spring from aphids, ticks and weevils. To process the plants, you will need to grind 150 g of winter garlic along with the husk in any convenient way and pour 10 liters of warm water over the mass. Cover the container with the solution with a lid, keep in a warm and dark place for 24 hours. Strain the solution and spray the garden with it.

Onion peel

It is worth saving stocks of this useful type of kitchen waste throughout the winter period in order to treat plants from aphids, weevil larvae and various types of scab in the spring. To prepare the solution, 200 g of husk should be insisted in 10 liters of warm water for 5 days. Then strain the infusion and process trees and shrubs.

Needles

Due to the large amount of aromatic oils, pine or spruce needles actively repel various types of garden pests. To prepare an insecticidal preparation, you need to pour 100 g of dry material with 1 liter of boiling water, insist until it cools completely.

Then bring the mixture to a boil and dilute with 5 liters of cold water. Strain and use to process plants.

We hope that our step-by-step instruction with photos and tips for spring processing of fruit trees and shrubs in early spring will be useful to both a novice gardener and a professional.

Summarize

1. The first work in the garden must be done as soon as the snow melts.
2. Correctly selected preparations are a guarantee of a good harvest.
3. For environmentally friendly products, it is better to use plant fungicides and insecticides.