On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 02:01:00 GMT, opined:

there was no late freeze, my pear, peach and apples fruited. i do not
use a weed and feed product, i did put out fertilizer stakes around
all my trees. i water heavily and we had a lengthly rainy period,
although i didn't see any of the classics signs of overwatering, it
was the only thing i could attribute the blossom fall to.

If you watered more than once between blooming and about three weeks ago, you
over watered. Tree spikes are nothing more than synthetic, potentially toxic
fertilizer. Immediately, I would pull back any turf from under the trees and
apply a two inch layer of fungal based compost, topped by another few inches of
good mulch. I recommend the Sylvan Formula over at The Natural Gardener
www.naturalgardeneraustin.com and their Revitilizer compost is both fungal and
bacterial based. Excellent and well worth the money.

Before you place the mulch and compost under the tree, out to the drip line,
take a garden fork and tear at the soil a bit so you can aerate the soil. At
this point, do give it a good, deep watering if the soil is dry (if the soil is
not dry, do not water again) and place mulch and compost away from the trunk of
the tree. You should see a root flare at the base of the tree. If you don't see
a flare, the trees are planted too deeply. To change that, dig around the base
of the trunk until you do see a flare and do not place anything up against it.

v





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