10 Ways to Prep Your Fruit Trees for Winter So They'll Come Back Strong in Spring

Winter is tough on fruit trees. Very cold temperatures, heavy snow or ice, pests, and diseases can leave you with damaged or unproductive plants the next year. But if you take the time to winterize your trees before the cold sets in for good, you can protect your backyard orchard from the worst of winter weather and set yourself up for a successful growing season to come. Use these 10 tips to winter-proof any sort of fruit tree and make your trees even more productive next year. 

1. Rake Leaves and Windfalls

Fruit tree pests and diseases, like apple scab, often overwinter in fallen leaves and old fruit that lingers on or beneath your fruit trees through winter. With a good fall cleanup before winter, you prevent many pest and disease problems from recurring.

Though you can collect old leaves and fruit for your compost pile and apply it later in other parts of your garden, it’s best to avoid using it around your orchard. Unless the temperatures in your compost get hot enough, some pathogens (which die at 145°F) and pests (which are killed at 160°F) can survive the composting process.

2. Remove Weeds

After raking, pull up or cut back any grass or weeds that are growing close to your fruit tree trunks. Pull the weeds by hand, use pruners, or a small hand trowel. Avoid using a trimmer or weed whacker close to tree trunks, as these tools may damage bark and leave fruit trees more susceptible to disease.

Taller plants around fruit trees make it difficult to install fruit tree guards, and they also tend to attract voles and other pests that damage tree bark; some plants may even girdle young trees.

3. Test the Soil

Plant experts recommend testing your soil at least once every 1 to 3 years to make sure gardens and lawns don't become nutrient-deficient and are healthy enough to support the plants you want to grow. If you haven’t had your soil tested recently, fall is an excellent time to do it because it gives you more time to amend your soil before spring, if needed. It’s also a good idea to test your soil in autumn if you intend to plant new fruit trees next year.

4. Add Mulch

Natural mulches, like shredded bark or wood chips, can be added around fruit trees in any season, but mulching in autumn ensures fruit tree roots will be well insulated when winter hits. For best results, apply mulch in 2- to 4-inch-deep layers, and keep it a few inches away from the trunks. Applying mulch directly against tree trunks or in a high, volcano-like mound traps moisture and increases the risk of rot and pests.

5. Fix Drainage Issues

If you’ve noticed water pooling around the base of your fruit trees, addressing these problems before winter reduces the chances that tree roots rot in waterlogged soil. This may entail adding a drainage ditch near your trees or regrading the soil to encourage water to flow away from tree roots.

If you have berms (circular rings of soil to hold water) around your fruit trees, you may also want to temporarily flatten the berms to reduce pooling during the winter. Build the berms back up again after the winter.

6. Skip the Fertilizer

Unlike garden beds with spring flowers or vegetable patches, fruit trees should not be given slow-release fertilizers or compost before winter. Unless soil test results suggest otherwise, fertilizing fruit trees late in the season causes them to produce fresh growth that is more vulnerable to cold damage.

7. Install Tree Guards

Voles, mice, deer, and rabbits often nibble on tree bark and buds in winter, which potentially girdles and kills young fruit trees. Tree guards prevent a lot of pest issues. They are mostly used on newly planted trees and may not be needed for mature trees that have developed thicker bark.

Install sturdy guards around the base of fruit trees and leave them in place until spring. To be effective, tree guards should be buried at least 1 to 4 inches below the soil and extend at least 20 inches above the soil or the anticipated snow line. It is also important to install tree guards loosely enough so that they don’t damage tender tree bark.

8. Consider Fencing

If you live in an area where deer are active, tree guards might not be sufficient to prevent deer from eating fruit tree branches. An 8-foot-tall fence around your trees or orchard is the most reliable way to keep fruit trees safe. In a pinch, temporary fencing made from poultry netting or fishing line tied to stakes can also be effective.

9. Apply Deterrents Consistently

Pest deterrents are not as effective as tree guards and fencing at deterring pests, but they can be a useful addition to your winter pest control regimen. Products like hot pepper spray, garlic spray, or humanely-sourced predator urine spray applied to fruit tree trunks and branches make orchards less appealing to deer, rabbits, and other wildlife. Just be sure to apply deterrents regularly, as many are washed away by rain and melting snow and don’t last long.

10. Prune If Needed

Late winter to early spring is the best time to prune most fruit trees, because most are dormant at this time and diseases are less likely to spread. However, if you’ve noticed any severely damaged or diseased branches on your fruit trees during the season, it’s best to remove them before winter so these problems don’t spread. Keep late-season pruning cuts to a minimum because pruning can causes plants to produce new growth, which is more susceptible to the cold.