The Overlooked Tip That'll Help Your Fruit Trees Grow Faster
If you've recently planted some fruit trees that seem to be struggling to take off, the culprit might be your lawn. It might not look like much of a threat, but grass is actually one of the worst things you could grow near fruit trees. While competing for water and nutrients, even fast-growing fruit trees just can't keep up with the faster-growing, denser, and more efficient grass.
While just about any plant growing near a tree will compete with it for water and nutrients, grass can be so aggressive it outcompetes a tree to the point that it's never able to develop a healthy root system. Weak roots, in turn, slow your tree's growth and inhibit fruit production. In a study by the Department of Horticultural Sciences at the North Carolina State University (via the Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science), researchers found that apple trees grown in mulched beds had thicker trunks than trees growing alongside grass. Moreover, over the multi-year experiment, trees growing in mulched beds began to produce apples by year three, while those surrounded by grass had yet to develop any fruit.
If you specifically chose your tree because you wanted one that would produce the first year after transplanting, growing grass around it could delay your dreams of enjoying homegrown fruit. Even if your tree is already a year or two old, getting rid of the grass now can give it the competition-free environment it needs to thrive. Here's why grass is slowing down your fruit tree's growth and what you can do to help it grow faster.
Why you should remove grass around fruit trees
Failing to remove nearby grass is one of the biggest mistakes everyone makes when growing fruit trees. The reason lies in the roots. Grass root systems can quickly form a dense network that threads through every part of the soil, efficiently soaking up moisture and nutrients. Meanwhile, tree roots grow slowly and are less efficient at taking up nutrients and water from the growing medium.
As a result, grass can dramatically shrink the root systems of nearby trees, sometimes by as much as 90%. With a smaller root system, trees struggle to take up the oxygen, water, and nutrients they need for healthy growth and fruit production. They will also be more vulnerable to disease, pests, and other kinds of environmental stress.
To help your trees develop strong, healthy root systems, mark a 2- to 3-foot area around the trunk. Remove the grass from this area and then add a 6- to 8-inch layer of mulch on top of the bare ground. The best time to do this is while you plant. But if you're clearing the area around an existing tree, be careful when digging out the grass — or don't dig it out at all. You can just apply the mulch layer directly on top of the grass. This method won't disturb the tree roots at all while smothering the grass. You'll have to check regularly for any stray shoots that manage to poke through the mulch layer and pull them as you see them.
Grass alternatives that are safer to plant near fruit trees
For gardeners who prefer the seamless look of greenery that reaches all the way up to the trunk, grass may not be a good choice, but there are ground covers you can plant around fruit trees. While any vegetation you plant near your fruit trees will compete for resources, the issue is less severe with species that have long taproots or root systems that look more similar to those of trees. Unlike the fast-growing, dense root networks that grass forms, these sparser root systems won't compete as aggressively with your fruit tree.
In the same study mentioned earlier, trees growing alongside shrubs, legumes, or broadleaf species had the same trunk size as those grown in mulched beds — and, by the fourth year of the experiment, were producing just as much fruit. So, less aggressive ground covers that thrive around tree roots may still delay fruit production, but they won't stunt growth to the point of harming the trees' long-term health.
In fact, a non-aggressive ground cover can actually benefit your trees. These plants can improve soil moisture retention and suppress the growth of more aggressive species. They can also prevent erosion and lower soil temperatures, ensuring that more nutrients are available and that tree roots are able to absorb those nutrients more effectively. To get those benefits without creating too much competition, opt for tree-compatible ground cover plants, like strawberries, white clover, and other low-growing perennials.