7 Steps to Prepare First-Year Fruit Trees For Winter

Fruit trees can be both functional and ornamental. Their flowers, fruit, and foliage make them both a beautiful addition to the landscape and a delicious treat. If you decided to add one or more to your garden this year, your young tree will need some extra care going into its first winter. 

First year fruit trees are more vulnerable to cold damage during their first winter. Both their roots and branches can suffer from freezing temperatures. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to protect these vulnerabilities. With a bit of preparation, that tree will make it through the winter and bear a healthy crop next year. 

Prepping for winter is as much about what not to do as it is about what you should do. There are actions you can take that are beneficial and those that are ill-suited to care in the fall. Let’s talk about how you should and shouldn’t prepare your first year fruit trees for a chilly winter season.

Stop Fertilizing

When prepping for winter, the first thing to do is stop applying fertilizer. Once the new wood has hardened off, it’s unlikely to do much growing anyway. As the plant prepares for dormancy, fertilizing is typically a waste of time and resources. 

It’s particularly important to stop applying nitrogen in the fall. July 1 should be the cut-off date for fertilizers that contain nitrogen. Nitrogen is responsible for green growth above the ground. The objective is for your plant to harden off before winter, as the hardened branches will endure frost better.

It’s fine to give your plants some fertilizer that contains phosphorus and potassium in the early fall. Some trees rely on it. This can help with root growth and integrity. Once the tree enters dormancy, fertilizer is not only unnecessary; it can be harmful. A buildup of fertilizer on the roots can burn them.

Hold off on fertilizing until just before the tree begins to bloom or leaf out. This is usually late winter or very early spring. This is a much more effective time to apply nutrients, as the tree will naturally begin a new growth cycle. 

For most first year and mature fruit trees, you should apply fertilizer after winter but before the buds break in early spring. This gives a boost to fruit formation. A second application in the early summer is optional. It may help fruits mature and replenish depleted nutrient stores. 

Tidy Up

The first task on my list is tidying up around your plant to reduce the threat of pests and diseases. Many diseases can overwinter in fallen fruits. These can also attract pests and small rodents which cause their own problems. 

Make sure to clean up to reduce the threat of diseases persisting next year. Remove debris like broken branches and old, fallen fruits from the ground beneath.

This clean-up makes things easier and neater in the spring. You’ll avoid a lot of issues that require treating and ensure a more attractive landscape by doing a bit of that work in preparation for the winter. 

Protect the Root

In their first year, your fruit tree’s roots are still growing and becoming established in the soil, which means they need extra protection from winter frosts. The finer feeder roots take in water and nutrients from the soil. These are more vulnerable to freezing temperatures than the larger roots that anchor the plant. 

Damaged or destroyed feeder roots will affect the overall health of the plant when it comes out of dormancy. This will make it more difficult for the tree to take in the elements that it needs for proper growth and for setting fruit. You could end up with a weak crop or, in the worst-case scenario, a dead tree. 

The best way to protect those roots is to insulate them. Cover the ground with a layer of mulch or straw. Mulching helps to control the soil temperature as the ambient temperature fluctuations could be stressful for the plant. 

Ensure you do this before the first frost, as the soil must be warm and not already frozen. Mulch also prevents erosion and helps retain moisture in the soil. Moisture may not seem important in the winter, but it also helps protect the roots. 

Treat Pests and Diseases

Fall is a good time to work on managing pests and diseases. We talked about how these can live in the debris beneath the tree. They can also overwinter in the leftover fruit that never matured and remain attached to the branches. Make sure you remove these shriveled, immature fruits.

This is the safest time to apply insecticides and pesticides, as pollinators are either hibernating or focusing on fall bloomers. Diatomaceous earth is another great pest control agent that you can use going into winter. It washes down into the soil and kills off insects and their larvae that overwinter in the soil. It won’t harm mammals or earthworms. Make sure to apply it inside the dripline when there is no rain in the forecast for 24-48 hours. 

Finally, trim off any dead or diseased branches at this time. Don’t leave them for your spring pruning, as this just encourages more of the same. You can do this kind of pruning any time of year, as the removal of diseased plant parts is an important part of control. 

Continue Watering

Don’t stop watering your first year fruit trees just because they lose their leaves with the first winter frosts. The roots are still taking in water and nutrients, and an ample supply of both will better prepare them for the cold. In addition, a hydrated root system and the entire tree will benefit from continued watering.

When a plant’s cells remain hydrated, they have better protection from the cold. The moisture inside the cells acts as insulation. While your tree may appear dormant after the leaves fall, it’s still a good idea to continue watering for a while. 

Time your watering according to the first anticipated hard freeze. Water regularly and deeply until about two to three weeks before the ground freezes. If there has been ample rain, there may not be a need to water. Watering too close to a hard freeze can have an adverse effect. You don’t want ice to form on the outside of the roots. 

Wrap the Trunk

This step is optional and not one that I personally take. But depending on the type of tree and your region, you may want to consider protecting your trunk. Rodents can be an issue in winter when food is scarce, and environmental challenges can cause harm.

As unlikely as it sounds, your tree is more vulnerable to sunscald in the winter. The reason will make sense, though. In winter, trees lose their leaves, leaving their trunk and branches exposed to more sun than usual. 

Additionally, fluctuations in temperature between night and day cause the bark to shrink and expand. This can cause cracks that expose the cambium layer, leaving a plant more vulnerable to pests and diseases. It can also result in deeper damage, which can cause lasting damage.

There are different methods of trunk protection to choose from. You can wrap the trunk with a spiral tree guard. These are removable and don’t affect the long-term appearance. If you prefer to use materials you have in the home, aluminum foil makes a good alternative trunk wrap. 

A third method of protecting your trunk is to paint it with white paint. Create a mixture of water-based latex paint and water in a 1:1 ratio. Simply paint it on the trunk and allow it to dry. The white paint protects the bark, and reflects the sun, preventing sun scald. 

Hold Off On Pruning

I always find it tempting to prune in the fall, but it’s not a good idea. As soon as those leaves fall and I can see the structure better, I want to start shaping and thinning branches. If you feel the same way, it is in the plant’s best interest to avoid pruning.

The main reason to avoid fall pruning is that it encourages new growth. New growth is soft and vulnerable to cold and especially to freezing winds. The growth that your tree puts out during spring and summer will harden off by the time winter rolls in. This hardened-off growth is durable and more capable of surviving the winter. 

The exception to this is removing dead and damaged branches and limbs that compromise the overall health of the plant. Reserve all significant pruning for late winter or very early spring. It should take place while the tree is dormant and close to coming out of dormancy.