Sanitation comes first. Before plants come to life in the spring, you must sanitize the fruit tree garden to remove all diseased material, like dropped fruit, branches, even fallen leaves from last year. Don't just pick up debris, but start with a steel rake to remove bulky items from the soil. Then, change to a bamboo rake to remove as much fallen leaves and debris as possible. Along the way, remove any and all mulch around and under the tree. You can scatter the mulch far, far away from fruit trees. Having removed sources of disease, you're home free!

Next, you need products to protect fruit trees. You need to shop at an independent nursery in your area. Consider calling them first to make sure they have what you need. Forget shopping at Home Depot or Lowe's because we've been to both stores and they aren't stocking the products needed for this spray.

Here are the products you need:

* Lime-Sulfur (a small container of the liquid will do);
* Malathion (liquid instead of powder);
* Daconil (found under a number of brand names...the liquid is best of all);
* Sevin (powdered);

Always check your local forecast before spraying. If rain is possible, delay spraying. Here is your spray schedule:

DORMANT SPRAY (when buds begin to swell): spray lime-sulfur on all flower buds. Air temperature should be above 40 degrees for a full 24 hours after spraying, and no rain;

PINK SPRAY (when pink shows on swelling buds): spray Daconil and Sevin to all buds in the evening;

BLOOM SPRAY (when most of the blooms have opened): spray Daconil to all buds in the evening; no insecticides;

SHUCK-SPLIT SPRAY (when shucks are splitting and petals are falling): spray flowers with Daconil and Permethrin in the evening;

FIRST COVER SPRAY (10-14 days after shuck split): spray Daconil and Permethrin to fruit and leaves in the evening;

SECOND COVER SPRAY (10-14 days after first cover): spray Daconil and Permethrin to fruit and leaves in the evening;

THIRD COVER SPRAY (3 weeks after second cover): spray Daconil and Permethrin to fruit and leaves in the evening;

FOURTH COVER SPRAY (2 weeks after third cover): spray Daconil and Permethrin to fruit and leaves in the evening;

FIFTH COVER SPRAY (2 weeks before picking fruit): spray Daconil and Permethrin to fruit and keaves in the evening;

PRE-HARVEST SPRAY (3 to 7 days before harvesting): spray Daconil to fruit and leaves in the evening.

IF JAPANESE BEETLES ARE A PROBLEM: Spray anytime by dissolving 2 tablespoons of powdered Sevin to a gallon of water in a hand-pump sprayer.