There are many different approaches to mulching under fruit trees. Some people swear by it, and others rarely or never use it or recommend it.
Spraying fruit trees should always be kept to a minimum to protect soil health, but sometimes a spray in autumn is the right thing to do.
Prepare the soil before planting fruit trees with an autumn green manure crop, and give your fruit trees the best possible chance to thrive.
If you’re planting fruit trees this winter, there are a few steps to go through before you get started with soil preparation.
Our fruit-growing study tour of the USA got us thinking slightly differently about mulch. We saw a number of different approaches to it in our travels.
Spraying fruit trees should always be kept to a minimum to protect soil health, but sometimes a spray in autumn is the right thing to do.
Prepare the soil before planting fruit trees with an autumn green manure crop, and give your fruit trees the best possible chance to thrive.
If you’re planting fruit trees this winter, there are a few steps to go through before you get started with soil preparation.
Spraying fruit trees should always be kept to a minimum to protect soil health, but sometimes a spray in autumn is the right thing to do.
Prepare the soil before planting fruit trees with an autumn green manure crop, and give your fruit trees the best possible chance to thrive.
If you’re planting fruit trees this winter, there are a few steps to go through before you get started with soil preparation.
The Pros and Cons of Mulching Fruit Trees
Mulching is the process of applying a protective layer of material around the base of plants, including fruit trees Mulching fruit trees can provide many benefits but also has some potential drawbacks to consider. In this article, we’ll explore the key pros and cons of using mulch for fruit trees
Pros of Mulching Fruit Trees
Moisture Retention
One of the biggest advantages of mulching is improved moisture retention. The mulch acts as a barrier to evaporation, helping keep the soil around fruit tree roots moist for longer. This protects trees from drought stress and reduces watering requirements.
Weed Suppression
An effective mulch layer prevents weed seeds from germinating by blocking sunlight. Less competition from weeds means fruit trees can maximize growth and fruit production. Weed suppression also reduces time spent on labor-intensive weeding.
Soil Nutrients
Organic mulches like wood chips or compost break down over time. This adds valuable organic matter and nutrients like nitrogen to the soil. Improved fertility and soil health helps fruit trees thrive.
Temperature Moderation
Mulch insulates the soil around fruit trees. It keeps roots warmer in winter to prevent frost damage and cooler in summer to protect from heat stress. Stable soil temperatures enhance root health.
Pest Deterrence
Some types of mulch can help deter certain insect pests. For example, cedar mulch naturally repels termites and ants. Crushed eggshells may discourage slugs and snails.
Cons of Mulching Fruit Trees
Pest Habitat
While deterring some pests, thick mulch can also create an attractive habitat for others like earwigs, slugs and rodents. These may feed on tender bark, roots or fruit. Regular monitoring for pests is important.
Disease Risk
Wet mulch encourages fungal diseases like root rot. Allowing proper drainage and airflow via pruning can help reduce this risk.
Nutrient Deficiency
As microbes decompose carbon-rich mulches like wood chips, they can temporarily deplete nitrogen in the soil needed by fruit trees. Supplementing with nitrogen fertilizer prevents deficiency.
Reapplication
Organic mulches break down over time and need to be reapplied annually or biannually. This involves purchasing costs and labor for spreading fresh mulch.
nutrient rich fruit tree mulches
If you really want to use a wood mulch around your fruit trees, you’ll want to layer it on top of another mulch that will offer nutrients to your tree in the first year. In Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard, we use either compost or well-rotted manure for that.
Compost contains small amounts of all three primary nutrients that trees need: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. If you mulch your trees with one to two inches of compost in the spring, that compost will insulate the roots and prevent weeds like wood mulch but it will also add nutrition and organic matter to the soil over the following weeks and months. You can learn more about the role of compost in building good soil in the podcast below.
Manure can also be helpful. Manure usually contains nitrogen but not much phosphorus or potassium. But the problem is that fresh manure can actually burn tree roots and it can have pathogens in it that are toxic to humans. The manure that you buy from your local garden center will be composted and so it is safe to use. You might also consider buying dehydrated chicken pellets instead of using composted manure.
Like compost, leaf mold has small amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. But while compost is produced by soil bacteria, leaf mold is produced by beneficial fungi in the soil. This is an amazing product to mulch with because it’s free and easy to make. Leaf mold also feeds beneficial microorganisms in the soil while improving soil texture and your soil’s ability to hold water.
To make leaf mold, just collect fallen leaves from your neighborhood. Avoid diseased leaves that can introduce a pathogen into your soil. And you might also want to avoid oak leaves which break down very slowly. Pile the leaves up in a corner of your garden, spray them lightly with water, cover the pile with a tarp and then wait for the beneficial fungi to do their work!
In one to two years, the fungi will have broken down the leaves, leaving behind a dark brown crumbly leaf mulch with a nice, earthy smell. Don’t want to wait that long? Just shred your leaves with a lawnmower or leaf shredder before adding them to the pile. This will make it easier for soil fungi to do their work and your leaf mold could be ready in a year or less.
Straw can be used as a mulch for fruit trees. But its important to be sure that the straw doesnt contain seeds to prevent bringing unwanted plants and weeds into your orchard. Photo Credit: OrchardPeople.com.
What’s wrong with weeds anyway?
The common understanding is that weeds will compete with your trees for water and nutrients.
For mature trees, plants under fruit trees bring many benefits. We encourage you to stop thinking of them as weeds and start thinking of them as your precious understory plants.
However, for young trees, the competition argument is somewhat true. It’s definitely helpful to keep the weeds (especially grasses) suppressed while the tree’s roots are getting established.
We’ve always weeded around the very young trees in our on-farm fruit tree nursery, but these days are moving towards using woody mulch around the trees.
We also saw this in action at the Maine Heritage Orchard in Unity, Maine. This orchard was planted not that many years ago on the site of a disused gravel pit. Major soil building and remediation have been the order of the day.
Hardwood chips have been extensively used as mulch around the trees when they were planted. The same chips have also been used to build soil more generally, and as an ongoing weed suppression tool even as the trees mature. They’ve even been used to build paths.
5 Fruit Tree Mulch Pros & Cons/ How I Lay Mulch /MIG
FAQ
Is mulch good to put around fruit trees?
Hardwood mulch, such as mulch from oak trees, is great to use around fruit trees that prefer neutral or alkaline soils as it helps to naturally increase pH …
What are 5 disadvantages of mulching?
Disadvantages of organic mulches
The dried organic mulches are a fire risk. The heaping of the mulches can provide a perfect hiding and breeding ground for pests. They intercept light rainfall from accessing the soil. They have the potential to spread weeds, diseases, and pests.
Should you mulch around trees yes or no?
You should add a thin layer of mulch (roughly 2-4 inches) around all of your trees, including mature ones. Mulch reduces soil issues, as outlined above, and supports growth. By mulching, as well as fertilizing and pruning, you can keep mature trees healthy and avoid common issues that harm them.
What is the best thing to put on fruit trees?
Caring for Fruit Trees
An organic mulch like pine bark or pine straw protects fruit trees by helping them retain moisture while roots establish. New trees need frequent shallow watering up to four times daily during the first few months.