When you plant fruit trees, give your trees the space it will need, not the space it needs now. Planting fruit trees too close together when they are young will spell disaster later down the line.

It happens to the best of us. It happened to me. You have a new yard, a new canvass, and you have an abundant amount of species of plants you want to own. So many great plants that can now be your very own, so you plant, and you plant, and you plant, and there is space for everything! The only problem is that everything will grow. This is South Florida. Everything will grow. And if you are planting fruit trees, they need space to not only grow, but to still get full sun when they get older. Planting trees too close together when they are young means they will shade each other out as they age. A shaded mango tree is just a tree. It won’t give you fruit if it is getting crowded out by a neighboring oak or jackfruit tree.

Things to consider

-A fruit tree needs to get sun for most of the day to have the energy to flower and fruit.

-The north side of your house or a large tree will be in the shade most of the day. Don’t plant anything there that needs sun.

-Many fruit trees, including mangos, sapodillas, lychees, longans, and avocados can become massive trees if left alone and not kept on a pruning schedule.

-Leave space for things to grow, or be prepared to make the hard choices about what to remove as space becomes tight.

-Think about your neighbors, don’t plant so close to the fence line that your tree will eventually invade your neighbor’s yard.

-Watch out for powerlines. If you plant too near a powerline, the power company will have no problem severely pruning your tree. Powerlines are also hazards, so steer clear of them when you plant.

Pruning tips

-When a fruit tree is young, use “tipping” to make the tree branch out.

-Tipping is cutting off the tip of a branch or stem, which forces the tree to bud and branch. One branch becomes three or four branches when you utilize tipping.

-As the tree ages, selectively prune once a year. Encourage lateral growth and remove any vigorous upright branches.

-You can keep most fruit trees 15 feet tall by 15 feet wide if you prune annually.

-Never prune of more than 30% of a tree’s leaf area at a time because that will cause the tree to grow vegetatively rather than fruit.

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