Prepping Fruit Trees for Winter, Part 1: Avoiding Water Stress
Southwest Yard & Garden by Dr. Marisa Thompson **Click HERE for Part 2** Persimmons still ripening on Halloween in 2017 at the NMSU Agricultural Science Center at Los Lunas. These fruit are special because they need a few hard freezes for the astringent compounds in the peel to fully break down. Photo credit Marisa Thompson. Question: What do you recommend for winter care of fruit trees? – Bette A., Albuquerque Answer: This question was posed during a recent Ready, Set, GROW! webinar given by NMSU Extension Agents Suzanne DeVos Cole of Mora County and Sara Moran Duran of Bernalillo County on growing all kinds of fruit in New Mexico. To watch a recording of that webinar and to register for our next session, “Healthy Soils” for gardeners, at 3 pm on Wednesday, October 20, visit https://desertblooms.nmsu.edu/ready-set-grow.html . In terms of fruit tree management in winter, our biggest concerns are cold damage and drought damage. This is true whether trees are old or n