How to properly cover an apricot for the winter and prepare a tree for cold weather

Sweet and juicy apricots, absence of diseases and pests, strong branches - all this is easy to achieve if the tree is properly cared for. Apricot is an unpretentious culture, but in order to harvest a good harvest in the warm season and not solve problems with pests, you need to qualitatively prepare the tree for the cold.

How to cover an apricot for the winter, what kind of care to provide for it in the fall and in other seasons - read on.

When is it time to cover the apricot for the winter

Considering that apricot does not belong to frost-resistant crops, it is prepared for shelter long before the onset of frost. As soon as the harvest is harvested, you can take on the preparatory work - to carry out pruning, fertilizing, choose the material and determine the method of shelter.

When all the preparatory work is over, the trees are covered. As a rule, by this time the average daily temperature has already dropped below + 8 ° C.

Preparatory work

The beginning of work is the end of September or the beginning of October. The preparation of trees is carried out in several stages:

1. Until the temperature at night falls below + 8 ° C, preventive pruning is carried out and the crown is formed for the next season. The remaining bark is cleaned from the trunk, all dried and overgrown branches are cut off. Places of cuts are treated with garden varnish or Bordeaux liquid.
2. Further, tree feeding is carried out. Most often, wood ash is used for this (a glass in a bucket of warm water). The ash solution will not only protect the plant from diseases, feed it, but also prevent the untimely growth of shoots and budding in the event of a warm autumn.
3. The last stage is soil mulching. Sprinkle the ground around the trunk with a mixture of sawdust, sand and peat (humus).

At the end of summer, before preparatory work, nitrogen fertilizers should not be applied to the soil.

What to choose as a covering material

The choice of covering material depends on the apricot variety and the growing region.

A universal option is ordinary mulch. These can be large coniferous sawdust, dry leaves, straw, cardboard trimmings, as well as the remains of any covering materials.

Important! Remember that the apricot cover mulch for the winter must be completely dry.

If the region is characterized by strong night frosts, it is best to sprinkle the soil around the tree with a thick layer of dry earth, and cover everything on top with spruce branches.

In regions with a temperate climate, materials such as agrofibre, lutrasil, burlap are often used.

Polypropylene bags also retain heat well, but at the same time do not let air into the soil. Therefore, they should be placed so that even small areas of land remain open. And so that the cold air does not damage the plant through them, they use breathable material.

How to properly cover an apricot for the winter

To provide trees with a comfortable wintering, a number of important recommendations are followed.

Shelter methods

The choice of the covering method is the choice of the covering material, as already mentioned above. But there are several nuances here. So, covering a tree with non-woven and special materials is carried out only under the trunk on the ground or covers part of the trunk... The second option is more preferable for cold regions where young apricots grow.

You can also combine mulching and the use of artificial materials. In this case, it is better to put more mulch and cover everything on top with agrofibre or other material, securing it against gusts of wind.

Step-by-step instruction

When working, it is important to follow the sequence of stages:

1. Preparation of the tree itself.
2. Loosening the soil around the trunk.
3. Mulching the soil.
4. Adding an additional thick layer of mulch at a distance of at least 1-1.5 m around the trunk.
5. Laying the covering material and winding the trunk if necessary.

If the tree often hurt and was attacked by pests, it is advisable to whitewash the trunk before sheltering.

Mistakes to Avoid

There are three main mistakes that are best avoided:

• wrapping and covering with thick layers of non-breathable material;
• too abundant watering in the fall;
• very tight bandaging of the crown with the trunk with covering material.

Any of the mistakes leads to decay of roots or shoots, the development of fungal diseases and the death of the plant. But insufficient shelter from the cold will eventually lead to freezing and death of the tree, so it is important to maintain a balance.

Nuances for young and old trees

It is recommended to completely cover young low trees for the winter. For this, a frame is constructed from sticks, onto which agrofibre is pulled.

Old trees do not need such a frame; it is enough for them to cover the soil around and wrap the trunk to the crown.

It is interesting:

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Features of the shelter for the winter, depending on the region of cultivation

The colder the region, the more the tree needs protection from frost.

In southern latitudes, apricots are often left uncovered for the winter, limiting themselves to mulching the soil. But if strong night frosts persist for more than three days, the trunks are wrapped with strong film or agrofibre.

In mid-latitudes (for example, in the Moscow region), mulching and wrapping of trunks is performed immediately. For wrapping, it is better to use not a film, but a natural material that allows air to pass through well - thick paper, agrofiber. You can also tie straw to the trunk. Small trees are protected by frames with stretched agrofibre.

In the northern latitudes, where winters are harsh, several materials are used for shelter at once, while all layers are made thicker.

Important! In the conditions of snowy and frosty winters, in addition to warming trees, they provide drainage of water that will form during the thawing process.

To drain water, they dig small trenches from the trunk so that the water does not stagnate near the tree. Otherwise, the roots of the apricot can rot.

What other stages of preparation for winter does an apricot tree need?

If the trees are often sick, it is recommended to additionally spray them with Bordeaux liquid, a weak solution of copper sulfate or potassium permanganate before covering. Also, a few days before warming, the soil is moistened to a depth of 0.8-1 m so that the earth does not finally harden.

Reference. If you whitewashed the trunk along with the branches, it will be enough just to insulate the soil around it without wrapping the trunk and branches with covering material.

Conclusion

Sheltering apricot trees for the winter is an integral part of their care. Competent insulation will protect the culture from many diseases and pests and protect it from frost, providing plants with a comfortable wintering and a good harvest.