Unfortunately, like us, wildlife love feasting on a range of fruit fresh from the tree too! They love stone fruit, apples and citrus alike.
Depending on the animal (possums, mice, birds, wallabies, rabbits, flying foxes) eating your fruit there are a few ways to prevent pesky fruit stealers! Read our brief guide to fruit tree pest control methods to keep your citrus, stone and apple trees pest free!
To deter digging animals, plant wire around the tree and dig it in about 30 centimetres into the ground. Small mesh may be used for mice. A removable metal collar placed around the trunk can also be used as a deterrent to keep your tree pest free.
Flying/climbing animals need taller deterrents such as netting. However, think carefully before erecting netting as you don’t want to injure or kill the local wildlife. Choose a white netting with small white mesh. Avoid thin nylon netting as it can be pulled out of shape and wound or kill wildlife.
Ensure that the net is kept taut, this can be done by building a box shaped or even a tee-pee frame around the tree - the more places that the netting is held in place, the more even the tension will be. Don’t forget to make a spot to allow access to your fruit!
A simple way to protect your fruit is just to cover the individual pieces of fruit in paper bags while the fruits ripen.
Plants like lavender and rosemary can deter pests due to the scent they emit. Talking preventive scents, you can even try applying seaweed spray, dog'n'bone or even a simple home-made garlic spray. Planning your edible garden is fun and you'll find there are lots of benefits! Read our guide to planning your edible garden here, and let us know if you have any questions.
Have you found a handy method to keep the pests away from your trees? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to tag us on social media with the hashtag #myfruitsaladtree.
Remove the rootstock (anything that’s not a fruit graft), balance your tree and remember to thin the first fruit.
We love seeing your Fruit Salad Tree grow. Feel free to share your growing pics with us by using #myfruitsaladtree on facebook on instagram if you have a public profile. Otherwise direct message us your photos. You can also ask us more detailed questions and our nursery staff can give you advice. Follow us on facebook and instagram today for more tips, tricks and specials.
Our fast fruiting trees can be grown in the ground, or in pots on your balcony. For more information on growing your tree in a pot, read our detailed guide here. For information on planting your Fruit Salad Tree read our step by step guide here, and for planting your tree in clay soil, watch Sue's informative video in our article on planting in clay soil here.
We send out regular care reminder emails to our email subscribers, which are jam packed full of specials, fruit tree care and more from our nursery team. * indicates required
Fruit Salad Trees make perfectly different gifts! Our gift cards are emailed instantly. You can also shop our wide range of trees now and check out our current specials here!
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References:
https://environment.des.qld.gov.au/wildlife/livingwith/flyingfoxes/netting_fruit_trees.html
https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/nifty-netting/9440460
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A handy list of essential items to make your gardening journey easier! From simple things like gardening gloves right through to fruit tree netting and a pH soil test kit, these will really help set you up for success in your patch. Whether you plan to grow veggies, fruit trees or flowers, this list will give you the confidence to get out in the garden and make the most of it all!
Here are some tips to help you keep your Fruit Salad Tree at it's best throughout the year. We all get busy and sometimes the garden jobs get forgotten. We get it!
We've popped these tips and tricks into categories (eg Citrus or Apple or Stonefruit) and then into seasons (eg in autumn remember to do this or keep an eye out for this in summer, etc.) to make things as easy as possible.
Happy, healthy fruit trees grow more fruit and that will make everyone happy!
There are many ways that you can become more sustainable and growing your own beautiful fruit tree at home is a great way to start!
In this short video, Kerry shows her veggie garden and the different types of Fruit Salad Trees to compliment edible gardens big and small.
