Mulching, Staking and Painting Important to New Fruit Trees in the Hot Desert

Mulch Applied to New Fruit Trees With Growth Difference In One Season

If you planted fruit trees this spring please apply 3 to 4 inches of course wood mulch, not bark mulch, around the trees a distance of 3 to 4 feet from the trunk. You must keep the wood mulch away from the trunk but distance of 6 inches so the trunk does not rot at the base. After the tree is 3 to 4 years old and the trunk is mature with bark you cannot allow the wood mulch to lie against it.

After these very high winds you can see the wisdom in securely staking newly planted trees in our climate. Stakes should be removed if possible after the first, full growing season.

These young fruit trees need to be protected from our high intensity, desert sunlight for the first few years of growth. I would not recommend a protective wrapping around the trunk as this can actually create higher temperatures than just leaving it uncovered. You can use flat boards if you choose on the west or south sides of the trunk but it may be easier to paint the tree trunk and lower limbs with dilute, white latex paint.

Diluted White Latex Paint Applied to Peach Tree to Help Prevent Sunburn in Hot Desert Climates

Make sure the paint is latex and make sure it is diluted to at least a 50/50 mixture with water. You can use more water than this as long as painting the tree results in a much lighter surface that will reflect sunlight and help to keep the surface of the plant cooler than unprotected surfaces.

Paint all surfaces of the young tree which would be exposed to direct sunlight. Most importantly paint the south, west and northwest sides of the trunk as well as the upper surfaces of major limbs or scaffolds. Reducing the sunburning of juvenile woody plants will help to minimize attacks by boring insects.