Here in Toronto (zone 5 or 6 depending on your microclimate), spring runs from mid March to late May. We begin to see plants coming out of dormancy, changing temperatures, and increasing daylight.

Habit #1: Pruning

Pruning is one of the best things you can do for your fruit tree to optimize the quality and accessibility of its fruit each season. It encourages healthy airflow, and allows you to manage the size of your tree and the direction of its growth¹. It’s crucial for getting rid of pests and diseases, and making sure they don’t spread to the other trees in your yard! Check out our post for an overview on how to prune, including the tools you’ll need and the timing you’ll want to follow.

Late Winter to Early Spring Pruning

In March and early April, trees are still in deep winter dormancy. Once temperatures gradually start to rise, and there’s an increase in daylight, it’s time to think about maintenance before your trees produce their new Spring growth! 

At this time, your tree will be bare and so it’s easier to get an accurate sense of the branch structure, and also to identify diseased, dead, or damaged branches to remove. Suckers, water shoots, and crossing branches are also easier to see at this time of year, and should be pruned!

This pruning should be done before plants break dormancy (without leaves or blossoms), which helps spur on vigorous growth². As spring sets in, your fruit tree will be able to direct all its stored energy towards the branches you have selected, and will easily recover from its pruning wounds. 

This video from Toronto Master Gardeners is about pruning pear trees, but these same principles can be applied to other pome or stone fruit trees.

Late Spring Pruning

While the best time to prune overall is late winter to early spring, maybe it was left a little late, or you want to shape a tree back from large growth.

Once the tree’s buds have emerged, and leaves and blossoms are on their way, pruning can be done with the benefit of seeing dead and damaged branches that will not be producing growth this year. It is good to note that pruning in the late spring will not promote vigorous growth in the tree as it would in earlier spring. ³

Habit #2: Monitor for & Identify ‘Pests‘

It’s time to inspect your tree for fire blight, scab, powdery mildew, scale and mites in the early Spring. By late March, when orchard plants begin to wake up and come out of dormancy, disease can begin to spread. 

Remove any remaining fruit on your tree before the weather warms and any lingering disease is spread through spores.

Take a look at Crop IPM for pest and disease treatment information as well as growing information by plant; not just for fruit trees, but all Ontario crop plants. We have compiled a post with common diseases and pests we see in Toronto, along with resources on support management.

This video from Giving Grove discusses management of pests in fruit trees, with a focus on their identification, life cycles, and control methods.

Habit #3: Mulching & Watering

In April, your fruit tree is gearing up for summer harvest action, and is looking to start some serious spring growth!

Mulch is the name for a material used to cover soil, and in this case, to cover the roots of a tree. It helps the soil retain moisture, keeping the fruit tree hydrated, and it also prevents weeds from growing around the tree (thus competing for resource such as nutrients and water)⁴. There are many different kinds of mulch, ranging from store bought wood chips to the grass cuttings left from mowing grass.

Apply a donut-shaped ring of mulch around base of tree. Keep the mulch away from touching the tree trunk.

If the fruit tree is young (under 5 years old) begin watering regularly when the top 5cms of soil are dry. Fill a bucket (5 gallon/18L) with water, and apply half of the water slowly and allow to absorb before repeating.

This video from Orchard People talks about how much water fruit trees need, how often to water, and when to stop watering.

Habit #4: Feeding & Fertilizing

A waking up tree is a hungry tree! Help it out by adding nutrients to the soil around trunk. It is recommended to apply nourishment around four times after the tree breaks out of dormancy at the different stages of growth, including bud break, flowering, after petal fall, and another time after petal fall⁵.

Local products we strongly recommend checking out include compost tea by Crooked Farmz and worm castings by Jocelyn’s Soil Booster.

This video talks about how to fertilize backyard fruit trees and how to tell if they needs nitrogen.

Habit #5: Planting

Okay, maybe this one is not a habit…but perhaps it could be! Consider planting a new fruit tree for yourself and for future generations.

• Check out TreeMobile for climate-appropriate fruit trees and plants at a low cost.

• LEAF makes it easy to plant native species that enhance biodiversity, brighten up your space and support native wildlife and pollinators.
• Take a look at the NFFTT resources on Young Fruit Tree Care.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb

References

1. https://www.phillyorchards.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/POP-Pruning-Guide-2026.pdf ↩︎
2. https://orchardpeople.com/when-to-prune-fruit-trees/ ↩︎
3. https://orchardpeople.com/when-to-prune-fruit-trees/ ↩︎
4. https://orchardpeople.com/fruit-tree-mulch/ ↩︎
5. https://www.phillyorchards.org/2022/04/04/em-for-orchards-are-effective-microorganisms-effective/ ↩︎