Mulching Fruit Trees

Mulching fruit trees is one of the biggest keys to successful early growth and continued health throughout it’s life cycle. Mulch enlivens the soil, and protects your fruit tree from the elements.

What type of mulch to use on fruit trees and what are the benefits?

The best type of mulch to use on fruit trees is wood mulch.

Wood mulch will do the best, most lasting job at keeping the soil consistent around and under your fruit tree.

A layer of 2-4 inches will take care of any weeds that would otherwise end up competing for water and nutrients in your soil.

Wood mulch around a fruit tree will help the surrounding soil retain moisture by preventing evaporation.

Mulching fruit trees will provide them with a layer of insulation that keeps the soil at a cooler temperature in the summer and helps keep them warmer in the winter.

Mulch enriches the soil ecosystem by introducing bugs and worms. The worms that feed on the organic mulch will in turn fertilize the soil and improve the overall structure through aeration.

Mulching Fruit Trees For Winter

Mulching fruit trees will keep the soil from drying out and cracking in the winter, which exposes the roots to the harmful elements.

If the roots of your fruit tree freeze they will likely die removing their ability to absorb nutrients and water.

My favorite mulch for this sole purpose is using straw. Straw has great insulating properties and will feed the soil as it breaks down, providing all of the benefits of wood mulch but with a shorter lifespan.

If you regularly experience severe winters or are expecting a tree threatening cold front, you can take this method one step further by ringing your fruit trees in chicken wire and filling in the space with straw.

This will provide much more insulation and also cover some of the trunk, preventing the trunk temperature from fluctuating too much and cracking.

The impact of mulch on PH for fruit tree soil

Fruit trees should have a PH between 5.5 and 7.5. This is slightly acidic. Some more common mulches used around fruit trees are wood mulches.

Wood mulches tend to lower the PH of your soil as they break down, adding a slight acidity to your soil. The water retention properties of mulch also keep your soil from getting too wet or too dry which can also alter the PH.

How to Apply the Mulch

The mulch should be around 2-4 inches deep. You can mulch young fruit trees with a wide enough diameter to match their canopy diameter.

A popular method for mulching is the ” volcano” method. Sounds cool right? It is harmful to your tree and can damage the trunk. This method is typically done in commercial settings because it’s aesthetically pleasing more than beneficial for your tree.

It is a best practice to keep mulch a few inches away from the base of the trunk.

The role of mulch in preventing soil compaction around fruit trees

Soil compaction happens when a particular area gets a significant amount of foot or machinery traffic or is over tilled. Heavy rain and sunlight also contribute to soil compaction. When compaction occurs the structure of the soil is changed.

Compacted soil is more dense than soil should be and this greatly restricts root growth of your fruit trees. Compacted soil’s ability to move water is also severely reduced. A large amount of water actually runs off before being made available for the roots to use.

Mulch acts as a barrier between foot traffic and the soil acting like a shock absorber. As mulch begins to break down it will actually aerate the soil underneath giving the reverse effect of compaction.

Mulch also evenly disperses heavy rain and protects against constant direct sun exposure.

A “Mulch” to Avoid for Fruit Trees

Sometimes referred to as plastic film mulch, polyethylene film should be avoided as a mulch for fruit trees.

While this film will do wonders for moisture retention, it will most certainly overheat the soil beneath, risking damage to your fruit tree’s root system.

If you’re ready to find out more ways to put mulch to work in your garden, Discover 11 Handy Uses For Mulch in The Garden next.

Published by Luke H. on May 5, 2023