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| Photo Credit: Lori Wear |
| Properly applied, low-toxicity dormant sprays can help keep your peach trees blossoming for years.. |
I have a happy-go-lucky Asian pear tree that asks for nothing and has been producing the most delicious apple pears for the past 10 years. All I do is a tiny bit of pruning in February. Over time, I've found that I do best with apple and pear trees. Peaches and nectarines are a bit tougher to please - they're the orchard divas. They crave a good amount of drama, so they purposefully attract insect infestations and fungal diseases just to get attention. (Trust me, I know this syndrome well: My twin sister chucked herself down a 10-foot staircase a week before my wedding so she could arrive on crutches and steal my spotlight. [She claims she fell. …])
Despite how happy my Asian pear tree is, winter can bring on some troubles. That's because there are plenty of pests that like to visit for the winter holidays. They enjoy hanging out and sucking vital plant nutrients from fruit trees, laying eggs and never leaving the back yard. (How rude!) What's a gardener to do? Well, one option is dormant spraying. What are dormant sprays? They're highly refined oils and fungicides applied when trees are in dormancy - after leaves fall but before buds begin to open in early spring. Using them can be a heedful choice if you've got a number of fruit trees. (Of course, that said, don't feel that you must spray your fruit trees just because your neighbors do. If you've only got a few trees and haven't been using many broad-spectrum pesticides or synthetic plant fertilizers in your garden, there's a good chance you've still got beneficial bugs coming for a visit. Those good guys will likely help take these overwintering insects and eggs off your hands without you having to lift a finger.)
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