How to Grow Fruit Trees in Virginia
- 1). Consult a USDA hardiness zone map to determine which zone you are in. The United States National Arboretum maintains a hardiness zone map which may be accessed on their website.
- 2). Test your soil to determine the soil composition, pH and nutrient structure. Virginia Tech University maintains a soil testing laboratory that offers recommendations on how to improve your soil.
- 3). Break up your orchard soil with a disk plow to a depth of 12 inches. Pick out rocks and other debris with a rake. Spread soil amendments over your soil to a depth of 4 inches and plow them into the soil. Choose your soil amendments based on the result of your soil test. Common soil amendments for orchards includes organic materials such as peat moss, compost and manure. In sandy coastal soil, these amendments will return nutrients to the soil. Additionally, you can raise the pH of your soil with lime--or lower it with sulfur.
- 4). Plant trees at the same depth as the containers they came in. Mulch around tree roots, but do not mound mulch up on the trunk of the tree.
- 5). Select a balanced, granulated fertilizer (10-10-10). Spread the fertilizer around the drip line of trees in spring. Use the amount of fertilizer recommended on the package. Fertilizer concentration varies among manufacturers.
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