When the garden begins to green and bloom again after the winter, many hobby gardeners become more motivated to make changes in their own garden paradise. For many plants, it can definitely make sense to take concrete steps to redesign the garden in autumn and winter.
When is the best time of year to plant columnar fruit?
Pillar fruit should ideally be planted between November and March as the plants grow best during the winter months. Container columnar fruit can be planted almost all year round, but mid-summer should be avoided to avoid drought damage.
In general, plant fruit trees between November and March
Most fruit trees are finished grafting when they are just a few years old and are transplanted bare-rooted into your own garden. This also applies to columnar fruit, which is not dissimilar to other types of fruit in terms of its location and care requirements. Fruit trees generally tolerate transplanting best if it happens during the winter months at a frost-free time. At this time the plants are in the so-called sap dormancy, but the root growth can also ensure solid rooting in the new location during the winter. Come the next spring, the columnar fruit that was planted a few months previously is already rooted firmly enough in the ground to invest all of its growth energy in the formation of leaves, twigs and flowers.
Pillar fruit in the plant container
While bare-root columnar fruit should only be planted on frost-free winter days, specimens purchased in a plant container can be planted more or less all year round in the desired location in the garden. However, midsummer should not be used as a planting time for container plants, as the plants can suffer drought damage even if transplanted very quickly. While a certain amount of root pruning before winter planting can promote growth in bare-root plants, the ball of soil around the roots of a container plant should be affected as little as possible when planting. When planting and transplanting during the year, the following factors should also be taken into account:
- do not select a hot or dry phase as the planting time
- water the plants more in the first few weeks at the new location
- Provide shade with a parasol when transplanting
- Dig the planting hole big enough and fill it with loose substrate
Tip
Pillar fruit grown in pots should be transplanted at least every five years. This should be done in autumn if possible so that the roots can recover sufficiently before winter and can therefore cope with the more exposed temperature situation of a container culture.