• $149

Soil Essentials for Fruit Trees

  • Closed
  • Course
  • 67 Lessons

The secret to growing healthy plants and trees is a soil that is rich in nutrients and filled with life. This course guides you through the essential steps of soil testing, understanding soil health, correcting imbalances, and using natural methods to continuously improve your soil. This course can be completed in 5 hours. Price in USD.

Make Your Soil Work for You

Healthy soil is the secret to growing thriving plants. If you’re lucky, your fruit trees will flourish in good soil. But if you’re not, you’ll face frustrating challenges and poor growth. This is why a one-time soil test is essential—whether before you plant your tree or after. In this course, we will help you evaluate and improve your soil in four steps.

1. Start with a Soil Test

Understanding your soil starts with a soil test. This course explains why you need a soil test and how to interpret the results. Knowing what you’re dealing with is the first step to success.

2. Fix Soil Imbalances

Learn how to correct any imbalances in your soil. This course will teach you the right way to amend your soil without guesswork, saving you time and money.

3. Feed Soil Naturally

Improve your soil health on an ongoing basis using holistic sprays to all-natural, organic products to keep your soil thriving for years to come.

4. Reap the Rewards

Healthy soil means healthy plants and trees and abundant harvests. This course shows you how to build better soil so you can enjoy the fruits of your labor.

This Course Includes:

This course is ideal for beginner or intermediate-level growers. It is ideal for home growers, professional gardeners, ISA Certified Arborists and small scale orchardists.

Short Videos & Quizzes

 5-hours of video lessons and mini-quizzes for review.

4 Beautiful eBooks

Full colour eBooks for course review and more detailed information.

Lifetime Video Access

Download the videos and review your course as often as you like.

Sign up today!

Become a confident and empowered grower!

Testimonials

Our students include home growers, professional gardeners, orchardists and ISA Certified Arborists from across North America and around the world. 

Akira Hirose, IN, USA

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I took 3 of Susan's courses, and this is BY FAR the most mind-blowingly informative one! The additional resources are abundant and helpful also.

Steph Roth, Silver Creek Nursery, Wellesley, Ontario

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Susan has distilled all the essentials of soil care (much of which it took me years to learn through books, research and trial and error) into an easily digestible course. This is an excellent course for the backyard grower, small scale production/community orchards or for anyone wanting to up their backyard orchard game!

Giselle Durrant, Toronto, Ontario

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a great course! The videos are informative as well as entertaining. Susan always uses the most natural approach to fertilizing. The DIY Foliar sprays are a great resource to add to your tool chest. This course is definitely money well spent!

Diana Kuzemchak, Pennsylvania, US

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Great! I can't wait to implement what I've learned!

Maybe Your Problem is the Soil?

In this video testimonial, Kurt Peters of Illinois explains how this course helped him identify the next steps for improving the health of his apple trees.

Course Contents

This course can be completed in just under 5 hours. 
Click on the + sign to explore individual lessons.

Welcome to the Course!

Your Course: A Guided Tour
Meet Your Instructor

Soil Science (Dur: 2 hours)

101 What is Soil?
Preview
Mini Quiz 101
102 Soil Particles
Mini Quiz 102
103 Soil and Water
Mini Quiz 103
104 Soil Aggregates
Mini Quiz 104
Hands on Experiment: Aggregates
105 Soil pH
Mini Quiz 105
106 Nutrient Ions
Mini Quiz 106
107 Roots and CEC
Mini Quiz 107
108 Macro and Micronutrients
Mini Quiz 108
109 Soil Life
Mini Quiz 109
110 Meet the Microbes
Hands On Experiment: "Bury Your Briefs "Soil Microbe Test
Module 1 eBook: Soil Science (58-pages)

Soil Testing (1.5 hours)

201 Do You Need a Soil Test?
Mini Quiz 201
202 Types of Soil Tests
Mini Quiz 202
203 Soil Toxin Testing
Mini Quiz 203
204 Soil Fertility Testing
Mini Quiz 204
205 Taking a Soil Sample
Mini Quiz 205
206 Analyzing Your Test Results
Mini Quiz 206
207 Leaf Tissue Testing
Mini Quiz 207
208 BONUS: Soil/Tissue Test Case Study Part 1
209 BONUS Soil/Tissue Test Case Study Part 2
210 BONUS: Soil & Tissue Test Spadina House (24 mins)
Module 2 eBook: Soil Testing (51 pages)

Amending Your Soil (Dur: 2 hours)

301 Synthetic Vs. Natural Fertilizers
302 Carbon and Organic Matter
Mini Quiz 302
303 Organic Matter components
Mini Quiz 303
304 Why CN Ratios Matter
Mini Quiz 304
305 eBook: The Ultimate Guide to Fruit Tree Mulches (11 pages)
306 Mulching Your Tree (11.59 mins)
Mini Quiz 305, 306
307 Fertilizing
Mini Quiz 307
308 Organic Fertilizer Options
Mini Quiz 308
309 When to Fertilize Fruit Trees
Mini Quiz 309
310 How Foliar Sprays Work
311 DIY Foliar Sprays
BONUS Regenerative Sprays with Nigel Palmer
Bonus Evaluating Fertilizer Products (15.55 mins)
Mini Quiz for Bonus Lesson
Module 3 eBook: Fertilizing and Amending (67-pages)

Final Test, A Quick Review, and Next Steps

Final Test to Access Certificate
More resources for you
A Quick Review

Learn Soil Essentials Today!

Become an Orchard People student and grow gardens that flourish.

Get to Know Your Instructor

You can reach out to your instructor at any time by posting your question in the discussions linked to each lesson.

Susan Poizner is an urban orchardist and an ISA Certified Arborist. She is the author of four fruit tree care books and the host of the award-winning Orchard People radio show and podcast.

Susan is a former instructor of Fruit Production at Niagara College in Canada. She is also the creatir of the fruit tree care training website at OrchardPeople.com.

Register Risk Free

If, within 30 days of enrolling in the course, you feel that it doesn't meet your expectations, simply contact us and we'll provide a full refund – no questions asked.

Frequently asked questions

How long will it take for me to complete this course?

You can complete the course in as little as 6 hours. You can complete the course in a single day, or take your time and go through it more slowly.

How long will I have access to the course?

You have lifetime video access so you can review the videos whenever you like.

Can I share this course with friends and coworkers?

The course is for one person only, however we do offer group discounts. Contact us to find out more!

What if I don't enjoy this course?

If you are not 100% satisfied with the course, we will offer you a full refund within 30 days of purchasing.