Get Planting Now for Some Delicious Fruit Right in Your Yard
If you couldn’t tell, we love planting in the winter and educating our customers and California residents on what to plant year-round! Some of the best trees we love planting right now are stone fruit trees. Stone fruit trees love cold weather. In fact, stone fruit trees will tend to produce the most fruit when it’s nice and chilly outside, with the right number of low chill hours. Stone fruit trees can grow beautiful fragrant flowers, create excellent summer shade, and bring you tasty fruit right in your yard! Keep reading to learn more about three delicious stone fruits you can start growing today.
What are low chill hours?
Low chill hours are the amount of time the fruit trees have spent below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Low chill fruit trees, such as stone fruit, as well as nut trees, require a specific number of hours each winter to regulate growth.
What happens if the tree does not get enough chill hours in the winter?
In a scenario such as this, a tree that doesn’t experience enough low chill winter hours may not produce healthy flower buds, which can affect fruit production. Moon Valley Nurseries only grows and uses the low chill fruit tree varieties that perform the best for our area. We judge this based on the overall fruit quality and chill hours required for the climate and zone. Only the best stone fruit trees are found in our nurseries!
Keep reading to learn more about three delicious stone fruits you can start growing today!
Apricot
The Apricot tree loves the California climate! They grow comfortably in full to partial sun and just as easy to maintain year-round. During the hot months, their dense foliage offers plenty of shade, and when they lose some of their leaves in the winter, it’s the perfect time to let the sun in and keep your home warm! The Apricot tree can also bloom gorgeous white flowers way earlier in the season than other fruit trees.
Plum
Fruit trees are an excellent choice for the California and Plum trees are a popular addition for local yards. Like other fruit trees, this one is easy to grow in our area too! It should be planted somewhere that gets full or partial sun and benefits from fertilizer right before the new growth starts in spring. Another cool feature of this tree that shows up in the springtime is the abundance of white flowers that appear. On top of growing your own food, Plum trees can be used as a stunning focal point in a large yard or small garden.
Peach
Just the idea of having a Peach tree in your yard should cause you to start craving one. If you don’t, then maybe you don’t like peaches at all (and that’s okay- weird, but totally okay, no judgment). This is an easy-growing, deciduous tree that stays small and offers a wide-spreading, dense canopy. It also produces colorful, showy flowers throughout the spring season, creating an attractive landscape. The beauty of this tree makes it perfect for any sized yard!
3 Tips for Stone Fruit Trees
Now that we have an idea of what we are going to plant, it is time to prepare ourselves for what we should be doing to make sure we have the best tree. Tree care is especially important when it comes to fruit trees because you will literally be able to taste the work and effort you put into it.
Plant New Trees Now
We’re quite lucky to be living in California as we have near-perfect weather to plant all year long. Even though the spring season is a popular time to plant, winter is the perfect planting season for some trees, like our stone fruits. In the colder months, newly planted fruit trees convert their energy to root growth. Planting in the winter gives the roots a few extra months to establish before it starts focusing on top growth (foliage, branching out). With the root system established, the tree will focus its energy on top growth to add healthy foliage and some shade to your yard.
Check Watering Systems
Whenever the seasons change, you need to check your watering system and, most likely, readjust some or all the settings. At this time of the year, the most significant change will probably need to be how often you water specific areas of your yard. Now that the temperatures are cooler, less water is required, but make sure you adjust correctly for each individual plant. Stone fruit trees and shrubs probably won’t survive on the same schedule, so make sure your sprinklers are set correctly, especially for newly planted trees.
Fertilize, Fertilize, Fertilize
Fertilize with Moon Valley Nurseries’ Super Charged Moon Juice and Moon Dust Organic Blend to allow organic enzymes and amino acids to stimulate new root system growth and stronger cell development. Colder temperatures are a signal to trees that they should stop top growth and focus on root development, which makes this a great time to supplement with Moon Juice monthly. These supplements will also help the tree grow faster and recover quicker from the cold as spring warms everything up.
These essential nutrients will be absorbed by the root system of your tree. Your tree will then use these nutrients to grow its root system and ward off any disease in the fall. Excess nutrients are then stored in the roots and will be available for vital top growth once spring arrives.
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