Apples ripening on a tree in a backyard orchard. This apple’s leaves were eaten on by Japanese beetles and the fruit are covered in scab, which is an aesthetic issue. Apples can be challenging to grow in a backyard orchard, but with a little work you can be successful. Photo by Amanda Bratcher

North Carolina is blessed with a Goldilocks climate, where we can grow a lot of different plants and crops with just a little bit of effort. In Lee County we have some incredible heirloom pears, and a few apples and peaches, that folks are still harvesting off of from the time of their grandparents. In commercial production, fruit trees are removed and replanted every 10 to 20 years, so any fruit tree older than that is on borrowed time! One thing I have noticed is many of these trees are suffering from some level of benign neglect and there are a few winter chores you can do to help your aging fruit trees head into the warm season on the right foot.

Prune It

Many of our heirloom trees have persisted despite pruning neglect, but there is a point where their overall productivity and efficiency for harvesting are compromised. For most of our heirloom pears and apples, working towards training them to have a central leader and side scaffolding branches can take years; but there is no time like the present to get started.

You can start the retraining process by removing known dead and diseased branches. You know the ones: those that didn’t leaf out; those with the most lichen growth on them; those with the big crack running down their length. Prune these branches just above the crotch angle. Next remove any crossing branches or branches crossing from one side of the canopy to the other. These branches impede air movement through the tree’s canopy, resulting in increased chance of fungal infections of your fruit.

Remove any fallen leaves and fruit from the trees, and pull any fruit still hanging from the trees. Remove debris and pruned wood from the property or burn after pruning to reduce any inoculum from disease. There are lots of different diseases in pears, apples and peaches that persist over the winter in the fallen leaves.

Finally, consider removing a few branches to continue to open the canopy and increase the spacing between branches. You can do a couple of these each year as you work your tree back into something manageable. Just remember, retrainting old fruit trees can take time. You can’t do it all in one year or you will shock the tree.

Do a Soil Test Now

Many folks who come to see me in the summer about their fruit trees generally assume because it is an old tree that it doesn’t need fertilizer. There is an assumption that if it has lasted this long, it doesn’t need anything. This is a dangerous assumption. We highly recommend doing a soil test every year for two to three years in an area you haven’t been testing (irrespective of how long you have lived there or how old your landscape is) and then every two to three years after that. Soil testing through the NCDA&CS Soil Lab is $4 a sample (Thanksgiving until March 31, then free after April 1), but the results will actually tell you what you need to add to your trees to maximize its growth! The results may surprise you!

Plan to Kill the Grass and Consider Adding Mulch

Trees Surrounded by Turf Grass = Suffering for the Tree. Trees were not meant to grow in mulch-ringed islands in a sea of turfgrass. Turfgrass is much more competitive for nitrogen and water than our fruit trees.

We get about a phone call a day during July and August, usually after we’ve been in a heat wave and drought, with folks calling me about their fruit free (pecans included!!) dropping fruit before its ripe. The way to prevent this from happening is to be proactive and remove competitive turfgrass from the area under the tree, just past the dripline (or where the branches reach to), and mulch this area annually with compost or mulch (remember, you still need to remove fallen leaves and fruit over the winter!). The compost or mulch will keep the soil cool and moist in the summertime, as well as building organic matter in the soil. Make sure to keep mulch and compost away from the trunk about 12 inches. DO NOT pile mulch or compost against the trunk of the tree.

Your trees will thank you in August and reward you with a better crop!

Consider a Fungal Application or Spray Plan

If you have been following along, reaching for a chemical option is only the fourth step after crucial cultural practices meant to enhance the health of the tree. A healthy tree is a resistant tree. When it comes to pests and diseases, apples and peaches have some tough ones to contend with in our region, with pears being pretty resistant to a lot more. It is important to be observing your trees throughout the year and getting potential pests and diseases identified or diagnosed before treatment.

Many of the pesticide applications must be timed EARLY in the year, along with stages of bug break and flowering, to be most effective. For example, it is recommended to apply a dormant or horticultural oil to kill any scale insects or mites. You should also apply a copper-based fungicide or chlorothalonil or ziram to peaches to prevent peach leaf curl. There are no effective treatments for it after leaf emergence.

With all chemical pesticides, it is critical to read the label in its entirety to understand how to appropriately use the chemical. The label is the law!

It is crucial to know what you are treating for so you are not applying a chemical that will not work and you are getting the right chemical applied before infection or infestation happens. It is also important to plan because many pesticides can negatively interfere with pollinators as they come to pollinate your trees.

Make a Plan to Thin Fruit in the Spring

Some plants are incredibly vigorous, which is one of the reasons we love them! However, some plants can be too enthusiastic, and will produce more fruit than they can handle. This can result in poor fruiting the following year (it takes a lot of energy to make babies!), poor-tasting fruit and even branch breakage. In this case, we need to be vigilant and remove some of the fruit in the spring or summer. The general recommendation is to thin to one fruit per spur (this is a little wooden branchlet that the fruit is coming out of) and one fruit for every six inches of branch. This can be challenging on an old tree, but still worth the effort!

So, there is a lot to do for old fruit trees in the winter, but with some attention and care you can keep your old trees in good working order for more seasons to come.

Getting Help

Amanda Bratcher is the horticulture agent with N.C. Cooperative Extension- Lee County Center. You can reach out to the office at 919-775-5624 for more information or questions regarding this article, but also any other questions about your garden, farm, land or plants! We’re here to help! You can check out our website at https://lee.ces.ncsu.edu/events/ for more information and to register for upcoming programs.

Resources

• Small Orchard Production- https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/north-carolina-production-guide-for-smaller-orchard-plantings
• Training and Pruning Fruit Trees- https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/training-and-pruning-fruit-trees-in-north-carolina
• 2025 Integrated Orchard Management Guide for Commercial Apples in the Southeast- https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/integrated-orchard-management-guide-for-commercial-apples-in-the-southeast
• Fruit Thinning- https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/em-9598-fruit-thinning