SteveB wrote:

We bought a property that has some fruit trees. A couple of peaches, a
nectarine, an apple, a couple of apricots, and a couple of almonds.

The trees were neglected. One that was near a spigot that was slightly
leaking had gotten regular watering from the seepage, and we got five of the
fruit boxes FULL of baseball sized peaches. The best I ever tasted. We got
just a few nectarines. Lots of good apricots, and a quart or two of
almonds.

The apple tree was full of apples one week, hundreds. The next week, it was
stripped except some at the top. No people tracks. No animal tracks, and
no half eaten cores on the ground. It was as if aliens came down in a space
ship and sucked them up. We were traveling at the time. At the time of
disappearance, they were hard and not ripe.

Sounds like you found some nice trees. One problem is that you probably
don't
know what varieties you have, but it should not prevent you from enjoying the
fruit.



My questions a

Give me some pointers on watering, fertilizing, and care to get a good crop
this year. I am good at pruning, and these need some pruning, but not a
lot.

Not sure where you are located, but probably your trees are dropping their
leaves and going into dormancy.



Tell me the difference between winter watering schedules, spring, and
summer.

Fruit trees are not all that different from other types of deciduous trees,
in this respect.
I would give them a good watering before the ground freezes. The idea is to
keep the
trees evenly watered. This may require watering more often in the hot
weather. Layers
of mulch at the tree bases will hold down the evaporation to some extent.
You can
check the trees periodically by carefully digging down near their bases to
check if the
ground is dry, or not.

Is it good to make a moat and fill it, or slow water?

You want to water heavily, but not too frequently. This encourages good root
development.
You can put an earthen ring around the tree to hold in the water during
irrigation so that the
water does not run off before it can be absorbed by the trees.

We have PVC
system. Winter, how often to water?

Once the ground freezes, no need to water.

Spring and summer, same question.

Answered above.



When to fertilize and with what?

I like to use a slow release fertilizer, like composted cow manure. I give
the
bases of the trees a coating just before winter, so they are ready to jump
off
the next spring. I also cover the area (inside the drip line) with
composted mulch.
You can rake these two materials into the top few inches inside the drip
line. Be
careful not to damage any roots, as some fruit trees (like dwarfs) tend to
have a
shallow root system.

Tilled in? Spread around the drip line
and watered in? Around the drip line and raked in? Put in the moat and let
dissolve?

I know I can get all these answers from books, and from Google. It's just
that I don't like to sift through that much information, and like the direct
quick answers here.

The thing you didn't mention was pest control. That's more complicated.
Start
thinking of giving them a spray of dormant oil just before spring. If the
fruit you
picked was not attacked by insects, you don't need an agressive spray
schedule.
Pruning is also complex, but you should do that while the trees are dormant,
or
you will just encourage more growth. Cut out ingrowing and crossing
branches,
for starters.

Hope this helps,

Sherwin



Thanks in advance.

Steve