E-Book Manual — Food Tree Care: Pruning & Fertilizing
Tired of vague advice that doesn’t work in your climate?
This practical, science-based manual gives you the proven methods we use to care for over 500 species of warm-climate fruit trees at the Orchard of Flavours Botanical Garden in Southern Portugal.
It’s your complete guide to pruning, fertilizing, watering, soil care, and tree training — all specifically adapted to Mediterranean climates and their regions, from the Algarve to California.
Whether you grow citrus, olive, pomegranate, fig, mango, or other fruit trees, you’ll learn how to:
🍊 Prune with purpose – without sacrificing next year’s harvest
🌿 Boost fruit yields using tested, science-backed methods
💧 Water wisely – save time, money, and protect your trees
🧪 Fertilize correctly – avoid nutrient imbalances and confusion
🌬️ Protect your trees from heatwaves, wind damage, and disease
✅ Downloadable PDF – Yours forever. Mark it up, take it to the garden.
✅ Written by our plant biologist and the garden’s founder
✅ Backed by a BGCI-accredited botanical garden
✅ Ideal for home growers, homesteaders, permaculture designers, and small-scale orchardists
Grow fruit trees with confidence — climate-smart, sustainable, and productive.
Tired of vague advice that doesn’t work in your climate?
This practical, science-based manual gives you the proven methods we use to care for over 500 species of warm-climate fruit trees at the Orchard of Flavours Botanical Garden in Southern Portugal.
It’s your complete guide to pruning, fertilizing, watering, soil care, and tree training — all specifically adapted to Mediterranean climates and their regions, from the Algarve to California.
Whether you grow citrus, olive, pomegranate, fig, mango, or other fruit trees, you’ll learn how to:
🍊 Prune with purpose – without sacrificing next year’s harvest
🌿 Boost fruit yields using tested, science-backed methods
💧 Water wisely – save time, money, and protect your trees
🧪 Fertilize correctly – avoid nutrient imbalances and confusion
🌬️ Protect your trees from heatwaves, wind damage, and disease
✅ Downloadable PDF – Yours forever. Mark it up, take it to the garden.
✅ Written by our plant biologist and the garden’s founder
✅ Backed by a BGCI-accredited botanical garden
✅ Ideal for home growers, homesteaders, permaculture designers, and small-scale orchardists
Grow fruit trees with confidence — climate-smart, sustainable, and productive.
Tired of vague advice that doesn’t work in your climate?
This practical, science-based manual gives you the proven methods we use to care for over 500 species of warm-climate fruit trees at the Orchard of Flavours Botanical Garden in Southern Portugal.
It’s your complete guide to pruning, fertilizing, watering, soil care, and tree training — all specifically adapted to Mediterranean climates and their regions, from the Algarve to California.
Whether you grow citrus, olive, pomegranate, fig, mango, or other fruit trees, you’ll learn how to:
🍊 Prune with purpose – without sacrificing next year’s harvest
🌿 Boost fruit yields using tested, science-backed methods
💧 Water wisely – save time, money, and protect your trees
🧪 Fertilize correctly – avoid nutrient imbalances and confusion
🌬️ Protect your trees from heatwaves, wind damage, and disease
✅ Downloadable PDF – Yours forever. Mark it up, take it to the garden.
✅ Written by our plant biologist and the garden’s founder
✅ Backed by a BGCI-accredited botanical garden
✅ Ideal for home growers, homesteaders, permaculture designers, and small-scale orchardists
Grow fruit trees with confidence — climate-smart, sustainable, and productive.
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FOREWORD
1. Fruit Tree Care Importance
2. Understanding Fruit Tree Growth
3. Pruning Basics
3.1. Why Prune?
3.2. Tool Types and Safety
3.3. Cleaning and Disinfecting Tools
3.4. Healing Tree Wounds
3.5. Seasonal Considerations for Pruning: timing
3.6. How Different Plants Respond to Pruning
3.7. Environmental Considerations & Climate Change4. A pruning method based on 3 steps
4.1. Always consider your goal !
4.2. Maintenance Pruning - apply without thinking !
4.2.1. Maintenance techniques
4.2.2. Pruning Mature Trees (Annual)
4.3. Training fruit trees: think carefully !
4.3.1. Principles of training techniques
4.3.2. Cut Types
4.3.3. Tree Designs to consider
4.3.4. Training Young Fruit Trees
4.3.5. Young VS Old Branches: Harvest at stake!5. Fruit tree nutrition
5.1. How Do Plants Eat and Drink
5.2. Feed the soil that will feed the plant !
5.3. Fruit Tree water and pH Requirements
5.4. Fruit Tree Nutrient requirements
5.5. Liebig's Law of the Minimum
5.6. Nutrient Deficiencies
5.7. Organic vs. Mineral Fertilizers
5.8. Compost and Manure as Nutrient Sources
5.9. Mycorrhizae, Biostimulants, and Soil Additives
5.10. Osmocote and slow release products
5.11. Micronutrients, trace elements and iron:
Iron Deficiency
Suggested Products
Usage Instructions
General Tree Treatment6. Fruit Tree Watering and Irrigation Systems
6.1 Irrigation types
6.2 Watering Frequency and Timing
6.3 Fertigation system
6.4. Water Saving & MulchingPruning Instructions in a Nutshell