Why buy new furniture if you can improve the old furniture? When you invest in good quality furniture, you don’t have to throw it away as soon as the fabric starts to fade. With reupholstering and refinishing, your old furniture can look as good as new. I revitalize my old furniture all the time. If you want to stop thinking of your expensive furniture as disposable and start thinking of it as something that you can periodically improve, you’re on the right track. I started this blog to provide you with tips and tricks for reupholstering, refinishing, and upgrading your old furniture.
There are numerous reasons why it makes sense to plant apple trees on your property, and with the wide-range of varieties available, there is an apple tree for any landscape in any region. In addition to yielding fruit over time, apple trees provide colorful and often fragrant blooms and shade during warmer months. While it may take up to five years to start producing fruit, these trees make an attractive addition to the home's landscaping in gardens or as focal points in the yard.
Some things to know about apple trees include these facts:
Types of trees
Apple trees do best in environments that experience freezing temperatures, but they should not be in these climates for long periods of time. You may have to plant a pair of apple trees, to allow for pollination that is necessary to bear fruit. Different types of trees suit warmer climates, and may peak anytime from early summer to late fall.
Buying trees
Choose bigger trees when given the option and select those that are not dried out or scraggly looking. You should also avoid buying apple trees that have a lot of leaves and foliage on the branches. When it comes to buying apple trees, buy the largest, barest trees as possible.
Before you plant
Your apple tree will need to be soaked overnight in water before you plant it in rich, well-drained soil in a spot that gets at least six hours of direct sun daily. Dig your hole about one and a half times as deep as the length of the tree's roots, and twice as wide as the spread of the roots. Clip and prune any dead or broken branches and roots before planting in the hole with a good amount of compost, and use a wooden stake to support the tree during its early transition.
Year-round maintenance
There are a couple things that you can do in the off-season to help your apple trees thrive and produce fruit. In the spring, prune damaged limbs and branches, and give the tree some fertilizer mixed in around the tree's trunk. In early summer, thin out the apples by picking out some of the immature apples that grow and subsequently fall to the ground. Leave one fruit on each branch, around eight-inches apart from each other.
Common issues
If you notice that your apples have brown spots on them, this could be an indication of a fungal issue known as scab. Scab causes the yellowish spots on the skin of the fruit, as well as on the leaves. The best response to this is to remove any infected fruit and leaves, and spray with a fungicide after harvest season.
Don't let the delay in producing tasty apples be the reason you don't plant these resilient, hardy trees. Some may fruit sooner, and can be encouraged to with tree care, attentive maintenance and suggestions from garden retailers or landscape contractors. It is well worth the time and investment in a tree that may bear fruit and be a part of your home's landscaping for up to fifty years.
Share19 March 2015
