While City Fruit has a Master Fruit Tree Stewards (MFTS) program to educate the community on caring for fruit trees, City Fruit also offers tree care services.  The current tree care specialist, Julian Garcia, offers care and maintenance of privately owned trees to ensure healthy trees that produce a healthy abundance of fruit.  These are paid services, but below market rate, with the proceeds funding the specialist’s salary and supporting City Fruit’s harvest efforts.

Caring for a fruit tree in the winter serves the ultimate purpose of a quality fruit harvest in the summer.  The tree care services of City Fruit provide an assessment of the tree, which is best conducted during the summer months, when foliage and fruit are apparent (although this can certainly be accomplished year round).  Pruning in the summer is great for shaping and reducing the size of a tree, identifying and removing deadwood, and thinning trees which are crowded and/or overproducing.  Winter pruning promotes growth in young trees, provides a clear picture of an established tree’s branching framework, and causes less stress in the tree.  Mulching is also offered, and can be an excellent way to suppress weeds and retain moisture in preparation for warmer weather.  Netting of trees and bagging of fruitlets that tend to attract pests, like apples and pears, is another attempt at preserving fruit to ensure grocery store quality (only netted apple tree bare fruit that can be donated to food banks).  City Fruit can also plant trees, offering expertise on site placement.