Growing your own fruit trees, as many people who have tried it can attest to, is easier said than done. Luckily for any aspiring orchard growers out there, one TikTok gardener has some tips for how you can get your fruit treefs to thrive. And not only that, but everything he suggests is completely free.
According to The Cool Down, the Los Angeles-based self-described “urban agroecologist,” The Solarpunk Farmer (@solarpunkfarmer), explains that “if you want happy fruit trees, grow them as a forest would.”
“Most of our fruit trees are native to forests,” he explains. “You never see bare soil in a forest. That’s because, in a forest, trees fertilize themselves with their own residues.”
In short, peoples’ natural desire for neatness and cleanliness is counterproductive to what makes trees thrive. Cleaning fallen leaves, branches, and fruit away from the base of a tree actually deprives it of the nutrients it needs.
The TikToker goes on to give a demonstration of how you can help a fruit tree that isn’t looking so hot. He selects a lemon tree with bare soil around it and gives it a good pruning, layering the surrounding dirt with leaves, branches, and residue.
“Look at all that free fertilizer we got,” he says before feeding it through a chipper.
“We can even feed bad fruit back to the tree by crushing it,” he adds before stomping on a rotten lemon.
He then tosses a few worms and a larger fallen log on top. That lemon tree should be thriving in no time.