Don’t you Plant Fruit Trees in Spring?
There’s a serious culture of people who plant fruit trees in the spring. That’s OK, but it creates challenges for the owners of a community garden. When you start in the spring, you introduce young, tender plants that are emerging from sleep. These plants are going to need a lot of water to get established, and in only two or three months, water could be scarce. Equally challenging: summer heat puts extra stress on plants. You might soon be pumping even more water to keep the tree perky. This is no good!
Planting in the fall provides several advantages:
Even as the air temperature plummets, soil cools down more slowly; roots will continue to grow into November or even December.
With autumn comes the rain. It’s not a rule, but even if rainfall doesn’t increase in autumn, your new plantings are going dormant so they simply don’t need as much water.
Perennials don’t need so much fertilizer when they’re going dormant. If you plant in the fall, you can leave off the fertilizer until the ground starts to thaw in March.
A perennial that you plant in the fall will most likely be much happier in the spring than one that you plant in the spring. By planting in the fall, you leave more time in the spring that you can use to plant spring vegetables. Honestly, what else is there to do this time of year in the garden.
