leaves under fruit trees

[esti]

Is it better to remove leaves from under fruit trees or leave them to decay and serve as mulch? Trees in question are avocado, fig, orange, plum, peach, and apricot.

[beecrofter]

Clean them up and compost them as they provide a source of innoculum for diseases especially fungal , remove any mummied fruit as well.

[David E. Ross]

Not only do I leave them, but I also include leaves from my ash tree throughout my garden in back. In front, most of the leaves are from my oak, liquidambar, and zelkova. In my climate -- which includes hot, dry summers -- the mulch is valuable for keeping the soil cool and moist without wasting water. This winter, we had record-breaking cold. To a large extent, it was the leaf mulch that kept my ground cover alive through the freeze.

Of the trees you list, I have only peach in the ground. Through the leaf mulch, I have primroses and grape hyacenth growing under the peach.

My dwarf orange is in a large pot, with a soil level too close to the top to hold a leaf mulch. Instead, I use white crushed rocks.

[sherwindu]

It depends if the leaves indicate some problem, like fungus or some other disease. If that is the case, I would not add these leaves to the compost pile, but dispose of them. If the leaves and the tree are healthy, no problem.

Sherw> Is it better to remove leaves from under fruit trees or leave them to

[len garden]

g'day esti,

yeh leave 'em there that's what nature does, i'd go a step further and when the leaves have stopped falling i'd mulch over the top of them with mulch hay or the like. keep the nutrient cycle going.

snipped With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

-- "Be Content With What You Have And May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In A World That You May Not Understand."

[symplastless]

Many suggestions. However, muclh instructions can be found here:

Sincerely, John A. Keslick, Jr. Arborist Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology. Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us that we are not the boss.

[symplastless]

You can remove them if you desire, however proper mulching would be goo.

[symplastless]

When you say "nutrient Cycle" are you referring to essential elements or carbohydrate based substances?

Sincerely, John A. Keslick, Jr. Arborist

Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology. Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us that we are not the boss.

[sherwindu]

Probably better to gather them up and put them in a mulch pile for at least one season of curing. Otherwise, these leaves can leach nitrogen out of the soil as they break down. It's also less messy.

Sherw> g'day esti,

[Jangchub]

My peach tree 'Dixieland' had brow rot last season. I didn't get one edible peach, where the year before I have 15 bushels from one tree. The practices of hygiene play a large part in fruit trees, unlike some information I see here. I make sure the foliage is raked up, along with the mushy peaches and I restore the mulch with a new layer of freshly shredded wood. Well, not fresh as in newly shredded.

But that's my practice.k This year there are no bees to speak of. It's always something.

[David E. Ross]

I find that, no matter what else I do, I will still get both leaf curl and brown rot unless I use a dormant spray on my peach tree. I use a mixture of dormant oil and copper sulfate, spraying once right after pruning and once again as the flower buds start to show color (just before they open).

[Jangchub]

If I don't get enough fruit this year I will spray next year. I was tempted this year at pink bud stage, but decided against it.

[sherwindu]

Many references tell me not to mix dormant oil with any sulfur compounds. They recommend a 30 day interval after doing the dormant oil.

Sherw> Jangchub wrote:

[David E. Ross]

Actually, I use a commercial dormant spray that already has the oil and copper sulfate combined. I understand that this mixture is not available any more, but I have seen it in separate bottles -- oil in one and copper sulfate in the other -- packaged together with instructions on how to mix them.

Copper sulfate is a fungicide that is usually classed as a copper compound, not as a sulfur compound.