Fruit & Nut April Tips

Check for signs of new growth in your strawberry bed. Organic mulches should be pulled back but left ready to be put back on in case of late frost. Spunbonded row covers can be left on until bloom, but must be removed then to allow for pollination of the flowers by honey bees and other pollinators.

Fresh raspberries are tender and perishable, so they are rarely sold in stores. To have fresh berries, raise them in your own backyard. Fifteen or twenty plants, spaced three feet apart, in rows six feet apart, will produce a good supply of fruit for home use.

When apple trees are in full bloom, make a note on your calendar 150 days later to check for ripeness.

USDA trials have shown that recently established rabbiteye blueberries should not be fertilized as these plants are extremely sensitive to soluble salts, especially in the first season following transplanting. Fertilization may actually damage or cause the death of the plants. Even for older plants, large amounts of fertilizer have been found to be detrimental.

If fruit trees are lacking pollinators nearby, cut bouquets of blossoms from good pollinators and place them in pails under blossoming trees. Make plans to plant pollinating varieties this fall.

Thin young fruits of apples, pears and peaches to insure larger, healthier fruit. Thin within 25 days of the peak bloom, leaving 4 to 6 inches between fruit.

In shaping young fruit trees, round hardwood toothpicks or clothespins are very useful for the early and important job of limb spreading. Simply insert the toothpicks between the trunk and branch to force the latter to grow outward at about a 60 degree angle rather than upright.

Plant strawberries, if you haven't already. Place straw around established plants as a mulch after weeding and fertilizing the bed.

Grape vines with excessive vegetative growth generally have less high-quality fruit. In early spring, prune out the canes with the fewest buds to allow light, moisture and air circulation within the plant to improve the quality and quantity of the fruit.

Improve the fruiting of your blueberries by removing unproductive wood that is diseased, dead and broken. Also remove old canes (five to six years old) that have begun to lose their vigor. Select six to eight of the most vigorous, upright-growing canes for fruiting wood and remove all others.

Raspberry canes can be pruned and thinned now. Removal of excessive canes at ground level will improve air circulation and light penetration for heavier fruiting. All dead tips of the canes should be cut