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.
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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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Your soils contain many nutrients that your plants require, some are only necessary in small doses and others need to be constantly acquired by your plants to assist with their day to day living. Most people have heard of NPK, but do you know what it represents and how it assists the health of your tree and how other elements benefit or harm your garden?
We are still operational and dispatching Australia wide from the farm. You are still able to purchase one of our unique trees for your home garden. Now is a great time while you are following the social distancing requirements, to plant your your own healthy fruit tree.
We have implemented all social distancing and government required health and safety measures with our staff when packing your fruit trees.
There are a few things you can do each season in your garden to prevent pests and diseases causing grief to your Fruit Salad Tree.
We've broken this down into the 3 varieties so you can find the information specific to your tree/s.
Gillian Eckert
September 26, 2019
I have many possums in my garden and have found that putting a string of flashing solar bud lights in the tree deters them.