All about fruit thinning
Apples, pears, apricots, peaches and plums benefit from thinning. Cherry and nut trees are not thinned.
Timely “thinning” of fruit in your home orchard improves the size and quality of the fruit and increases your chances of good production the following year. Thinning also reduces limb breakage and disease.
The earlier you thin, the larger the remaining fruit will grow, but it is good to wait until after the natural fruit drop that occurs in June.
To thin your fruit trees:
1. Remove all damaged fruit.
2. Thin (twist off) fruit when it is about the size of a marble, about 30 to 40 days after full bloom.
3. Thin to one fruit per cluster or spur leaving the largest fruit.
4. Thin apples, pears and plums when fruit is about the size of a marble. Apricots and plums should be thinned to 2-4 inches apart on a branch; peaches, 3-5 inches apart; apples and pears to 1-2 fruits per cluster spaced 6-8 inches apart on the branch.
by Michele Mangiantini
Reserve June 27 for the Annual MG Garden Tour featuring seven gardens in Sequim. The tour hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Tickets are available in Sequim at Over the Fence, Sunny Farms, Peninsula Nursery and Nash’s; in Port Angeles at Gross’s Nursery, Airport Garden Center, Port Book and News, Green House Nursery and the WSU Extension Office; in Port Townsend at Henery’s and online at: gardentour.brownpapertickets.com.
Plant Clinics
Helpline: 417-2514)
Monday 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Clallam County Courthouse, Port Angeles; Saturday 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Demonstration Garden, 2711 Woodcock Road, Sequim.
Walks in the Garden
Friday Walks in the Garden on the second Friday of each month (May-September) at the Fifth Street Community Garden, 328 E. Fifth St., Port Angeles. These educational walks are from noon-1 p.m. Topics related to vegetable gardening, herbs and other food crops will be tailored to what is happening in the garden that month. Join in the Friday walks on June 12, July 10, Aug. 14 and Sept. 11.
Class Acts
Class Act Seminars are on the first and third Saturdays 10-11 a.m. at the Demonstration Garden, 2711 Woodcock Roadd, Sequim.
June 6 – Pests of Vegetables, Bob Cain
June 20 – New Plants from Cuttings, Rosalie Preble
Brown Bag it
Brown Bag Seminar on the second and fourth Thursday at noon at the Clallam County Courthouse (commissioners meeting room), 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles
June 11 – Common Pests of Vegetables, Bob Cain
June 25 – Greenhouses, Francoise Pearlman
Gardening tips
• General: Begin summer watering. Use drip irrigation to conserve water. Water early in the day to minimize evaporation and allow leaves to dry before nightfall. Water deeply and infrequently. Conserve moisture by adding two to three inches of mulch to garden beds and around trees and shrubs. Containers and hanging baskets may need water daily. Patrol for slugs and aphids. Encourage birds in garden for help with insect control.
• Flowers: Plant annuals. Deadhead faded flowers. Stake plants that get top heavy. Trim perennials after blooming. Remove foliage from spring-flowering bulbs after foliage has died. Divide spring-flowering bulbs and replant or store until fall. Deadhead roses and fertilize. Check roses for mildew and black spot; remove and discard affected leaves; do not compost diseased plant parts. Pinch back chrysanthemums about ½-inch when new growth reaches 6 inches to encourage bushier plants and more blossoms; do not pinch them back after the Fourth of July. Plant fall-blooming perennials and bulbs such as Star of Bethlehem, asters, chrysanthemums, autumn crocus and hardy cyclamen.
• Shrubs: It is best to plant shrubs in early spring or fall. If you plant now, take care to provide sufficient water throughout the summer.
• Trees: Wait until fall to plant trees. Fertilize young trees with slow-release fertilizer; water regularly and deeply. Prune Japanese maples to remove dead branches and to maintain “open” structure. Watch for tent caterpillars and strip or prune out and destroy nests of caterpillars as soon as noticed.
• Fruit trees: Thin fruit (see sidebar). If signs of brown rot, scab or powdery mildew are found, spray with a fungicide according to the product label.
• Berries: Check for gray mold on strawberries; immediately remove and discard affected berries and leaves. Fertilize blueberry bushes with 1-2 ounces of ammonium sulfate (once this month) or 1 tablespoon of fish emulsion diluted in 1 cup of water (twice this month). Berries need 1 inch of water each week.
• Veggies: Transplant herbs and warm-season vegetable starts including basil, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and corn. Plant basil and tomatoes in the warmest spot with maximum hours of full sun exposure; cover when night temperatures fall below 50 degrees. Discourage disease by spacing tomatoes properly and support plants using stakes, cages or trellises to ensure good air circulation. Sow lettuces, spinach, kale, chard and cabbage. Control weeds. Provide an inch of water a week as rains taper off.
Stop harvesting asparagus when spears become smaller than a pencil; fertilize and allow tops to grow. Harvest no more than half of rhubarb stalks so remaining leaves can sustain the crown. Watch for leaf miners on beets, chard and spinach and remove and discard infested leaves. Handpick and discard caterpillars found on leaves.
• Lawns: If not letting your lawn go dormant over the summer, water deeply at least twice a month and fertilize once during the last half of the month. Conserve water by keeping irrigation systems on “manual” and not “timed.” Mow often enough to remove only one-third of grass blade length. Continue “grass cycling,” leaving clippings on lawn. Aerate later in summer to avoid damaging new growth.
Contributions to this article by Washington State University-certified, Clallam County Master Gardeners.
