Apricot care guide: when & how to prune, fertilize and spray

When: 5–8 weeks after the last spring frost.

• zones 3–5: about Jun 14 – Jul 5
• zones 6–7: about May 20 – Jun 10
• zones 8–10: about Apr 1–22

Trees set far more fruit than they can size up. Thinning gives bigger, better-tasting fruit, prevents broken branches and stops the tree alternating between heavy and empty years.

1. Wait until after the natural 'June drop', when fruit is about marble to walnut size.
2. Twist or snip off fruit so the survivors are spaced 3–4 in (8–10 cm) apart along the branch.
3. Remove the smallest, damaged or misshapen fruit first.
4. It feels wasteful, but you'll harvest about the same weight of much better fruit.

When: 12–16 weeks after the last spring frost.

• zones 3–5: about Aug 2–30
• zones 6–7: about Jul 8 – Aug 5
• zones 8–10: about May 20 – Jun 17

Pruning in warm, dry weather right after harvest is the safest time for apricots. Wounds seal before the fall and winter rains that spread canker and Eutypa.

1. Pick a dry spell with no rain forecast for several days.
2. Keep an open-center vase with 3–4 main scaffolds.
3. Remove dead, diseased, crossing and inward-growing branches, plus water sprouts.
4. Thin crowded shoots so light reaches the center, and shorten overly long shoots by a third.
5. Remove the oldest, unproductive spurs gradually. Spurs stay productive about 3–4 years.
6. Disinfect pruners between trees.

Tools: Bypass pruners, Loppers, Pruning saw, Rubbing alcohol

Caution: Avoid winter pruning in wet climates. It's the main route for canker infections.

When: from 2 weeks before to 2 weeks after the last spring frost.

• zones 3–5: about Apr 26 – May 24
• zones 6–7: about Apr 1–29
• zones 8–10: about Feb 11 – Mar 11

One feeding as growth starts is enough. Apricots don't need much.

1. Spread fertilizer around the drip line and water it in. Mature trees growing 12–18 in (30–45 cm) a year need little or none.

What to use: 🌿 Organic tree & shrub food (e.g. Espoma Tree-tone 6-3-2) · 🌿 Finished compost or composted manure · Fruit tree spikes or 10-10-10 granular

When: 2–6 weeks before the last spring frost.

• zones 3–5: about Mar 29 – Apr 26
• zones 6–7: about Mar 4 – Apr 1
• zones 8–10: about Jan 14 – Feb 11

Kills overwintering spores of bacterial canker, shot hole and brown rot on bark and bud scales before they can infect new growth.

1. Spray on a dry day above 40°F/4°C, just before buds swell.
2. Cover all bark and buds thoroughly.
3. Rinse your sprayer well afterward. Copper corrodes metal parts.

What to use: 🌿 Copper fungicide (e.g. Bonide Captain Jack's Liquid Copper) · 🌿 Lime sulfur (e.g. Lime-Sulfur Spray)

When: 2–6 weeks before the last spring frost.

• zones 3–5: about Mar 29 – Apr 26
• zones 6–7: about Mar 4 – Apr 1
• zones 8–10: about Jan 14 – Feb 11

Smothers overwintering scale and mite eggs before they hatch. It's the lowest-toxicity insect control you can do all year.

1. Pick a calm, dry day between 40°F and 70°F (4–21°C) with no freeze forecast for 24 hours.
2. Mix the oil at the label's dormant rate.
3. Coat every branch, crotch and bark crevice until it drips.
4. Spray before buds open. Oil on tender green tissue can burn it.

What to use: 🌿 Horticultural / dormant oil (e.g. Bonide All Seasons Oil)

Caution: Don't use within 2 weeks of a sulfur spray. Don't spray blue spruce or other blue conifers; oil strips their color.

When: 1–4 weeks before the last spring frost, then every 1 weeks (2 times a season).

• zones 3–5: about Apr 12 – May 3
• zones 6–7: about Mar 18 – Apr 8
• zones 8–10: about Jan 28 – Feb 18

Brown rot infects blossoms in wet weather, then spreads to the fruit.

1. In wet weather, spray at early bloom and again at full bloom. Spray in the evening to spare bees.

What to use: 🌿 Wettable sulfur (e.g. Bonide Sulfur Plant Fungicide) · 🌿 Bacillus-based biofungicide (e.g. Serenade or Cease) · Captan (fruit tree fungicide)

When: 2–6 weeks after the last spring frost.

• zones 3–5: about May 24 – Jun 21
• zones 6–7: about Apr 29 – May 27
• zones 8–10: about Mar 11 – Apr 8

Mulch keeps roots cool and moist, suppresses weeds and slowly feeds the soil. Applying it after the soil warms lets roots wake up first.

1. Spread 2–3 in (5–7 cm) of mulch over the root zone.
2. Keep mulch 2–3 in (5–7 cm) away from stems and trunks. Mulch piled against bark invites rot and rodents.
3. Don't go deeper than 3 in (7 cm) in total. Too much mulch suffocates roots.

What to use: 🌿 Shredded hardwood or pine bark mulch

When: from 5 weeks before the last spring frost until the last spring frost.

• zones 3–5: about Apr 5 – May 10
• zones 6–7: about Mar 11 – Apr 15
• zones 8–10: about Jan 21 – Feb 25

Apricot blossoms are killed around 28°F (−2°C), and open blossoms often coincide with the last frosts.

1. Watch the forecast from the time buds show color until the frost-free date.
2. On frost nights, drape frost cloth over small trees to the ground in the evening, and remove it in the morning.
3. Water dry soil the day before. Moist soil releases more heat overnight.

When: 2–6 weeks after the first fall frost.

• zones 3–5: about Oct 15 – Nov 12
• zones 6–7: about Nov 8 – Dec 6
• zones 8–10: about Dec 15 – Jan 12

Voles and rabbits girdle young fruit tree trunks under snow, and winter sun can split bark (sunscald).

1. Wrap the lower 18–24 in (45–60 cm) of young trunks with a plastic spiral guard or hardware cloth.
2. Pull mulch back from the trunk so voles have nowhere to hide.
3. Optionally paint the trunk with diluted white latex paint (50:50 with water) to prevent sunscald.

When: from the first fall frost to 4 weeks after.

• zones 3–5: about Oct 1–29
• zones 6–7: about Oct 25 – Nov 22
• zones 8–10: about Dec 1–29

Spores of brown rot (remove every mummified fruit) overwinter on fallen leaves and splash back up in spring. Removing them is the single best way to prevent next year's outbreak.

1. Rake up and remove fallen leaves and dropped fruit from under the plant.
2. Bag diseased material or put it in the trash. Don't compost it unless your pile gets hot (140°F/60°C+).
3. Cut out any dead or obviously diseased twigs you can see.

Tools: Rake, Bypass pruners