Spring is on the Way
Spring has now hit us (and they say it will be a warm spring). And the fruit trees are now blossoming. The peaches are the first ones with a mass of pink flowers.
The peaches are first to blossom
The next is the quince with a mass of white flowers, the rest are just still budding, but I expect they too will break out in flower over the next month.
The nut trees are still basically ’sticks’ hopefully they to will show signs of life soon. Actually we are beginning to get worried on the nut trees, they were bare root stock but there have been no real signs eg budding/leaf growth. So if anyone has any suggestions, they would be appreciated. All 11 other trees (fruit) seem OK.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Those fruit trees look like they’re doing well. I’m surprised by the flush of growth our citrus has had since Spring arrived too. It breaks my heart to have to pull the flowers off so they don’t fruit this season.
As for the nut trees, I wonder if the frosts have killed them off? Some nut trees won’t tolerate frost at all.
To kickstart them along however, try to find some flattish, dark rocks and place them around the tree to the drip line. Don’t touch the bark of the tree though. This should radiate heat towards them and if they are alive, they may shoot quicker.
Are the branches still flexible when you bend them? If so , this is a good sign the tree is still alive but just dormant. If the branches are brittle to a certain point, you could try pruning the dead stuff off. Make sure the danger of frosts have passed though.
Did you prune them after you initially planted them? If so, and the frost got to them, chances are they’re dead. As trees tend to go dormant in winter, they don’t grow to cover over the pruning wound, then frost enters and kills them.
Fingers crossed they’re just slow on the up-take to Spring weather.