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central_valley

Apricot disease prevention

central_valley
10 years ago

I have three apricot trees which produced a ton of fruit this year, after several years of producing none at all. Previously the fruit withered before it ripened, and the leaves curled and fell off.

I'm now motivated to give the trees better care so that they'll stay healthy.

I don't know exactly what the trees' problem was, but all of the possibilities I found were fungal, and I learned that one important precaution is to rake up the fallen leaves around the tree. Due to the odd conditions in our yard, I need to know more about this to figure out whether it's a 20 minute job (which I've done) or an all-day project.

When I rake up the leaves "around the tree," how far from the trunk must I go?

All three trees are planted next to the bottom of a concrete retaining wall about a foot high. The tree side was easy to clear. On the other side is a chain link fence with a hedge in front of it. To get the leaves on that side I'd have to crawl under the hedge!

One of the trees is a couple of feet from our property line, again next to a fence. Clearing the leaves on the other side would require negotiating with a neighbor whom we don't even know how to contact. Further clearing in that case is probably out of the question.

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