In December, UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners in Stanislaus County offered library classes on planting and pruning deciduous fruit trees. If you missed them, you can find past recordings about this topic on our YouTube Channel, as well as links to helpful publications from UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR).

What is a Deciduous Fruit tree?

Deciduous fruit trees lose their leaves in fall, and include apple, pear, fig, pomegranate, nectarine, cherry, apricot, peach, and plum. 

Planting New Trees & Understanding Where Fruit Originates

Sometimes a fruit tree mysteriously dies, and the gardener isn't sure what happened. A common cause is a tree that was planted too deeply. Root and crown rot slowly affect the tree, causing it to die years later. Watch the detailed instructions on how to plant correctly.

It's important to understand how new fruit develops and grows on the tree. Not all deciduous fruit trees produce fruit in the same place. It's important to know this so you don't accidentally cut off fruit spurs and damage your tree's ability to produce fruit. See this video for guidance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4fgVrf8XHE&t=250s

Publication - Fruit Trees: Planting and Care of Young Trees  https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/Details.aspx?itemNo=8048

Fruit Trees: Training and Pruning Deciduous Trees  https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/Details.aspx?itemNo=8057

Keeping New Trees Small – the Fruit Bush Method 

Tired of out-of-control fruit trees? If you are planting a new tree, watch this video! It details the Fruit Bush Method, a specific way of keeping fruit trees small. See photos of 5-6' tall fruit trees planted over 30 years ago that continue to produce an ample amount of fruit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry4YAp6NzdI&t=1s

Pruning Established Trees

If your fruit tree is already out-of-control, read Fruit Trees: Pruning Overgrown Deciduous Trees https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/Details.aspx?itemNo=8058 for help. It can take several years of pruning to bring trees down to a manageable height.

Other Helpful Publications

Fruit Trees: Thinning Young Fruit https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/Details.aspx?itemNo=8047

What about Citrus Trees?

Citrus trees such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, lime, and kumquats are evergreen trees and need different care than deciduous trees. It's not recommended to prune citrus trees at the same time as deciduous fruit trees. Wait until spring to prune your tree for size and shape.

We are offering an online class on citrus on January 31, so watch for our registration advertisement in about a week. Locally, we will be teaching at 8 library locations about citrus during March.