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The house we have bought has a number of trees in the garden and I'm looking for advice for basically how to take care of them. How often and how much to water them and any other particular tips and tricks.

If it helps, I'm in Istanbul which has pretty hot summers (36 degrees at the moment) and wet and cold winters, often with snow. Our back garden has the sun on it pretty much most of the day. Side and front garden the sun hits from around midday.

Back garden:

Thuja orientalis pyramidalis - I think this is what they're called. Newly planted, about 1.6 metres at the moment.

Olive tree - Mature. Olives are coming through now.

Plum tree - Mature. This produced green plums ('erik' in Turkish) the past couple of months. Has produced nice green plums. I think this is Prunus cerasifera?

Plum tree - newly planted. Same species of tree as above. Currently very small, about 1.2m

Apple tree - Mature. As of a couple of weeks ago the apples stated falling but they're small, not your normal size apples.

Rose bush - Newly planted.

Side and front garden:

Pear tree - Mature. Same situation with the apple tree with dropped fruit and the size.

Mandarin tree - I think it's a mandarin tree, though it's more like a tall bush.

Monterey Cypress / Goldcrest Cypress (Cupressus Macrocarpa Goldcrest) - These are newly planted, currently about 1.30m.

I'm concerned about the newly planted trees and the apple and pear tree mainly at the moment. Some people we've spoken with have given us contradicting information thus we're a little confused at the moment.

Thanks!

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    "June drop" for apples is normal, when the tree assesses that more fruit have set than it can support to maturity. You can also deliberately thin fruit at a similar time to get larger fruits from those left on the tree, and/or to break a cycle of biennial bearing (where the tree makes so much fruit one year it makes essentially none the following year.)
    – Ecnerwal
    Commented Jul 20, 2023 at 15:42
  • What a blessing you have. Your trees are going to do great. I'd add pomegranate, native species tulips, and grape hyacinth for the lower tier.
    – Yosef Baskin
    Commented Jul 20, 2023 at 15:53

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Established trees find their own water deep down with their taproot. That is the job of the taproot, along with anchoring the tree. Surface roots find nutrients.

You only need to baby newly planted trees, say a year or two, and water well each time. Shallow waterings = shallow roots = training a tree to rely on you, not nature.

  • Ask the previous owners and neighbors if they water established trees at all during the dry season, because olives grow on their own in the desert.
  • Watering at the ends of the day saves you water that evaporates as you water, neither better nor worse for the garden. Watering well is undefined, but 1-2 minutes with a hose is one indicator (20-30 gallons) and pooling water says enough.
  • Roses will always need water.
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  • Thanks for the reply! So the gardening people who were contracted previously advised to water the established trees each day after the sun has gone down and to water well. For the newly planted trees, twice daily, in the AM and PM, again not while the sun is out. Does this sound about right? I'm cautious about over watering. When you say 'water well' is there a indicator? I'm currently using a garden hose and the advice I was given was basically water until you can see the water sitting on the soil, then move on. Thanks!
    – Mert
    Commented Jul 26, 2023 at 5:13

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