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Fruit trees. A couple of questions

janntimsonjanntimson Posts: 54
in Fruit & veg
Hi. A couple of really rookie questions....In Autumn I planted a bunch of semi dwarf apple trees and a plum tree. Basically, our lawn was horribly waterlogged as I'm sure was everyone's after the awful winter we had. It's drying up quite nicely now and the trees seem quite happy and to be budding nicely. My question is are they likely to have come to any great harm being so waterlogged eg root rot or funghal infections and if so what should I be looking for to check they're still 'healthy'. Is it worth giving them all a bit of fertiliser at this point or anything? 

In addition to this I've essentially 'hedged off' this area of the garden too and was planning to stop mowing the grass in it. Is it worth chucking a bit of meadowgrass seed down or will it struggle to thrive around the trees? (I realise meadowgrass needs full sun but our garden is south facing and I can't see the trees getting huge) The one thing I DON'T want is to put meadowgrass seed down and just end up with a load of nasty aggressive grass instead. 

Sorry if these are really novice questions. That's because I really am a novice. 😊 

Posts

  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    I would recommend keeping the ground under the trees clear of grass, a circle of about 1 metre round each tree. Use a mulch to keep weeds down to prevent competition. Once the trees are well established in a few years you can grass over the area.

    If the trees are budding now they are probably doing OK. I wouldn't bother with fertiliser though.
  • janntimsonjanntimson Posts: 54
    steephill said:
    I would recommend keeping the ground under the trees clear of grass, a circle of about 1 metre round each tree. Use a mulch to keep weeds down to prevent competition. Once the trees are well established in a few years you can grass over the area.

    If the trees are budding now they are probably doing OK. I wouldn't bother with fertiliser though.
    Thanks. Yes all budding nice and evenly mich to my surprise. I was convinced I'd drowned them all. They are mulched but planted a good distance apart so it was the land between the trees I was wondering about sewing meadowgrass
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    As Steephill said above ... fruit trees need a bare circle of soil of a metre diameter around their trunks until they are very well established. I would keep a bare circle of soil for at least ten years. This facilitates mulching/feeding and prevents competition for moisture from the grass. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • enilorac2enilorac2 Posts: 77
    I agree
  • enilorac2enilorac2 Posts: 77
    I was really only posting that comment to see if my Posting Permission has returned after losing it when I just tried to update my Profile to include my Location, as suggested earlier.   But I do agree anyway!
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