Apricot Tree

An early-blooming stone fruit tree whose flowers are vulnerable to late spring frosts in cooler climates. Plant on a north-facing slope to delay bloom and reduce frost damage risk, or choose late-blooming cultivars. Apricots are mostly self-fertile and produce best with annual pruning to maintain an open canopy. The fruit is excellent fresh, dried, or preserved and ripens quickly once ready.

Apricot trees are propagated by budding onto peach, plum, or apricot seedling rootstock. Purchase grafted bare-root trees from reputable nurseries and plant in late winter while dormant. Apricot pits germinate readily after 60 to 90 days of cold stratification, and seedlings sometimes produce acceptable fruit, though quality varies widely. Grafted trees bear in 3 to 4 years while seedlings may take 5 to 7 years.

The Season Plate

Your Apricot Tree Year

Composed for Zone 7 · typical seasons · frost passes Apr 2, returns Nov 1

Sow Apricot Tree Feb – Apr, pick Jun – Aug. Set your climate below and every date on this plate re-times itself.

Sowing window

Feb – Apr

re-timed to your frost dates

Plant out

after Apr 2

once frost risk has passed

First picking

around Feb 14

≈ 1095 days from sowing · 50 to per plant

Composed for —ColdTemperateMildWarmUse my locationUsed once to set your season · only the zone is kept

Week-by-week Apricot Tree reminders watering, feeding and pruning, timed to your dates

In the app

Frost alerts for your garden a warning before a cold night costs you the crop

In the app

Succession sowing dates so the picking never gaps mid-season

In the app

Keep my dates — free for 7 daysWe nudge you as each window opens · cancel anytime

Apricot trees bloom earlier than almost any other fruit tree, making site selection critical for avoiding frost damage to blossoms. Counterintuitively, planting on a north-facing slope delays bloom by keeping the tree cooler in late winter, reducing frost risk. Choose a site with full sun, excellent drainage, and good air circulation. Avoid heavy clay soil and low-lying frost pockets. Space trees 15 to 20 feet apart.

Plant bare-root apricot trees in late winter while dormant. Set the graft union above soil level and water deeply at planting. Apply organic mulch but keep it away from the trunk. Water weekly during the first growing season. Apricots are more drought-tolerant once established than peaches or plums but still benefit from consistent moisture during fruit development.

Prune apricots to an open vase shape with 3 to 4 well-spaced scaffold branches. Annual pruning should remove crossing branches, water sprouts, and dead wood while maintaining an open center for light and air penetration. Unlike peaches, apricots fruit on two and three-year-old spurs, so avoid removing all older wood. Thin fruit to 3 to 4 inches apart when marble-sized to improve size and prevent branch breakage.

Garlic and basil planted beneath apricot trees help deter aphids and some fungal issues. Marigolds attract pollinators and beneficial insects during bloom. Comfrey makes an excellent understory companion, mining nutrients with deep roots. Clover or vetch between trees fixes nitrogen and provides ground cover. Avoid planting tomatoes, peppers, or other nightshades near apricots due to shared disease susceptibility.

The Society Table

Garlic belongs beside it. Walnut Tree doesn't.

Old growers' knowledge, checked against Apricot Tree's real companion table below — test any plant you're growing.

Grows well in the company of · 3

GarlicBasilMarigold

Keep apart · 1

Walnut Tree

Plant Apricot Tree with good neighboursThe planner flags conflicts before they're in the ground

Apricot trees prefer well-drained sandy loam with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. They tolerate slightly alkaline conditions better than peaches. Avoid heavy clay and poorly drained sites. Apply a balanced fertilizer in early spring, using about 1/4 pound of nitrogen per year of tree age. Excessive nitrogen promotes soft growth susceptible to disease. Apricots benefit from potassium supplementation for better fruit color and winter hardiness.

Ideal Temperature

Hardiness Zone Compatibility

Apricots ripen rapidly and must be monitored closely. Fruit is ready when it develops full orange color, yields slightly to gentle pressure, and releases from the branch with a gentle twist. Apricots do not improve much in flavor after picking, so tree-ripened fruit has the best taste. However, for drying or preserving, pick when firm-ripe. Harvest every 1 to 2 days during the short ripening window, which typically lasts only 1 to 2 weeks.

Storage & Preservation

Fresh apricots are highly perishable, keeping only 3 to 5 days refrigerated. Dried apricots are a classic preservation method: halve, pit, and dry at 135 degrees until leathery and pliable. Sulfur-treated dried apricots retain their orange color, while unsulfured ones turn dark brown but have superior flavor. Apricots make excellent jam, preserves, and chutney. They freeze well when halved and pitted, packed in sugar syrup or dry-packed.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

Late frost damage to blossoms is the most common reason for crop failure, as apricots bloom before most other fruit trees. Choose late-blooming varieties for cold climates. Brown rot is particularly problematic in humid regions. Gummosis on branches often indicates canker disease or borer activity. Fruit splitting near harvest results from inconsistent watering. Overwatering or poor drainage causes root rot.

Growing Tips

1. Plant apricot trees in a location that receives at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight daily and is sheltered from cold north winds to protect early blossoms from frost damage.
2. Choose well-drained sandy loam or loamy soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.5; apricot trees are highly sensitive to waterlogged roots and will develop root rot in heavy clay soils without adequate drainage.
3. Space standard-sized trees 6 to 8 meters apart and dwarf varieties 3 to 4 meters apart to ensure adequate air circulation and sunlight penetration throughout the canopy.
4. Water deeply but infrequently, providing 2.5 to 5 centimeters of water every 7 to 10 days during the growing season; reduce watering as fruit approaches ripeness to improve flavor and prevent cracking.
5. Train young trees to an open vase shape with 3 to 4 main scaffold branches angled at 45 to 60 degrees from the trunk, which maximizes light exposure and simplifies harvesting.
6. Apply a balanced fertilizer such as 10-10-10 in early spring as buds begin to swell, using roughly 0.5 kilograms per year of tree age up to a maximum of 5 kilograms for mature trees.
7. Thin fruit aggressively four to six weeks after bloom, leaving one fruit every 5 to 8 centimeters along each branch to promote larger, sweeter apricots and reduce the risk of limb breakage.
8. Monitor regularly for common pests including aphids, peach twig borer, and Oriental fruit moth, and apply targeted treatments early before populations establish.
9. Apply preventive fungicide sprays at bud swell and petal fall to manage brown rot and shothole disease, which are the two most significant fungal problems for apricot trees.
10. Protect the trunk of young trees with white latex paint or commercial tree wrap to prevent winter sunscald, which can crack bark on the south-facing side and create entry points for disease organisms.