More fungal infections overwinter on fallen fruit leaves than anywhere else.<\/p>
When you have done that \u2013 clear a circle, down to bare earth around each tree with a radius of 30 cms (45 is better) and keep it clear if you can. It deters crawly pests, stops weed competition and makes mowing without bashing the trunks of your fruit trees much easier.<\/p>
Pruning is like Surgery: Growth Follows the Knife<\/h3>
Pruning is a big topic, so two easy tips: <\/p>
Remove dead, damaged or diseased wood at any time, but do all other pruning at the right time of year. For most structrual pruning, that means when your fruit trees are dormant in late Autumn or Winter, on a mild day. Avoid pruning when the temperature is below zero. Use clean tools (wiped with a disinfectant such as Dettol between each cut) that are as sharp as possible to make the cleanest pruning cut. And then seal the wound with a pruning compound such as Medo or Prune \u2018n Seal.<\/p> It is so tempting to let your fruit trees crop their socks off. Don\u2019t succumb to temptation.<\/p> In the year after planting, by all means let your trees flower, but remove ALL the fruitlets that form after flowering as soon as you see them. In subsequent years, in June you will see a lot of baby fruit fall off the tree. This is called the June Drop and is nature\u2019s way of making sure the tree does not stress itself by over-fruiting. The single most common \u201cailment\u201d in fruit trees is underwatering. It takes a lot of water to make an an apple or a plum.<\/p> All fruit trees need a steady, consistent even supply of moisture. Erratic watering (as in dry spells followed by wet spells) leads to excessive fruit drop, split fruit, misshapen fruit and so on. So, incorporate plenty of well rotted organic matter in the ground when planting. And then mulch well every year with more of the same. All organic matter helps improve the structure of the soil making moisture more available to tree roots and acting as a reservoir in dry periods.<\/p> At the same time, do not overwater: if the soil is already nice and moist, do not add more water that day.<\/p> Frost is the single biggest enemy of fruit production. Cold air is heavy and slides downhill, so keep your orchard out of dips, valleys, hollows and sheltered flat ground. Because it is heavy it displaces warmer air, so the warmest spots at night tend to be 100-300 feet above sea level on a slope away from the prevailing wind.<\/p> Those warm, sunny southwest facing slopes also get the prevailing wind, which inhibits pollinating insects. A sheltered north-east facing slope is often better for fruit than an exposed south-western one.<\/p> Above 300 feet, temperatures drop by 1 degree Fahrenheit for each 300 foot increase in altitude. There are successful orchards at 800 feet, but above that there are challenges; wind shelter is essential to protect your trees and allow pollination.<\/p> The number one soil requirements are adequate drainage and sufficient moisture. The worst soil is potter\u2019s clay in a low-lying area that is underwater all winter and brick hard all summer. Fruit tree roots need to breathe and access to water to help swell their fruit. Good soil texture helps moisture retention: fruit splitting is a classic sign of an uneven water supply.<\/p> A disfiguring condition, not a disease, caused by an irregular supply of water. The splits usually occur when a protracted dry spell ends and the fruit swells too quickly. The remedy is to ensure your fruit trees have a steady supply of water, aided by mulch, and to improve the soil well at planting time if it is dry.<\/p> Good compost & mulch helps the soil retain moisture. Apply mulch every spring, when the soil has warmed up and is wet. <\/p> Apples<\/a> and pears<\/a> especially \u2013 can get into a habit of alternating heavy crops one year with carrying little or nothing the year after. 1. Keep the tree well fed and watered in dry spells from blossom until it has fruited. A newly planted tree will need a couple of full watering cans of water every two weeks for the first 2-3 years of its life. So the water goes where it is intended, keep a circle at least 1 metre in diameter around the trunk completely clear of grass and weeds. As the tree grows, make the circle bigger\u2026 A good mulch of compost\/well-rotted manure over the circle in spring when the soil is wet works wonders. If you have not used Rootgrow, feed the tree in spring (before mulching) with a general-purpose granular fertiliser such as Growmore. Follow the instructions. <\/a><\/p> 2. Thin out the fruit on the tree when you have a heavy crop. This is always a good thing to do irrespective of whether the tree is a biennial fruiter or not. You get better quality fruit and by reducing the crop size, you stress the tree less and so encourage it to fruit the next year as well year.<\/p> 3. Thin the fruit buds in early spring in a heavy fruiting year. This is called \u201crubbing out\u201d and you literally rub them using your thumb and first finger. You can choose between rubbing out every fruiting bud on every other branch, every fruiting bud on every other spur or between half and two-thirds of the fruiting buds on every spur on the tree. Whichever you decide you will rub out the same number of buds on the tree. When selecting a method remember that you will need to do the same thing to the OTHER half of the buds next year. My favoured method is to do every other branch and tie a bit of raffia or garden twin to the branches I have done to remind me which ones to leave alone next year.<\/p> For those who are not sure, a fruit bud is a prominent, usually downy, rather plump bud that is obvious from autumn onwards. Leaf buds, by contrast, are smaller and tend to lie flat against stems.<\/p> If you are worried about which buds are which, then as quickly as possible after the flowers open cut every other blossom off.<\/p> The purpose of this \u201chalving\u201d is to restrict the heavy crop thereby allowing your tree to have enough in reserve when fruiting is over to produce fruit buds for next spring.<\/p> Reducing the number of unripe fruit on a tree is called thinning, and it is beneficial for several reasons:<\/p> Newly planted trees<\/strong><\/p> Your trees will establish faster if you remove all of their fruitlets right after flowering<\/strong> in the first year that they do flower, and the majority of them in the second year \u2013 leave only one nice specimen per main branch to ripen. When and how to thin<\/strong><\/p> Wait until mid-July, after the June drop, to thin your fruit. This way you avoid thinning out fruit that would have fallen naturally, thus ending up with a really sparse harvest. The amount you thin will depend on the type of fruit (see below). Use either secateurs, long scissors or your fingers to thin the fruit to the recommended spacing. Get rid of anything that\u2019s blemished or misshapen, along with what\u2019s known as the \u2018king\u2019 fruit at the centre of each cluster, which is often a strange shape. Aim to be left with the best shaped, strongest fruits, which will then mature to the best shaped, tastiest fruits.<\/p> \u2026 and by how much<\/strong><\/p> Use Mulch<\/strong><\/p> In the early years, you want your establishing trees to have:<\/p> Mulch will help hugely with all of those things, whether you use a woven plastic sheet like Mypex<\/a>, something biodegradable like our hemp mulch mats<\/a>, or organic matter like woodchips, compost, lawn clippings, or Autumn leaves. <\/p> Remember that because mulch is not dug into the soil, it does not need to be rotted. To get fruit quickly<\/strong>, try planting soft fruit bushes<\/a> around your young fruit trees, especially if you are planting an orchard and therefore preparing and irrigating long strips of ground. Soft fruit canes like raspberries<\/a> are easy to lift and move in winter, and strawberries<\/a> are propagated by runners, so after five or so years, when your fruit trees are getting big and casting more shade, you can redeploy or pot up your by-then huge beds of soft fruit.<\/p> Lots of apple or pear fruitlets on the ground under your precious fruit trees<\/a> in June long before they are ripe.<\/p> While the June Drop can look frightening, there\u2019s usually no need to worry about it. In midsummer, most fruit trees shed some of their fruitlets. It\u2019s a completely natural\/normal process that ensures trees don\u2019t overcrop and exhaust themselves. Fruit trees produce many more flowers than they need, as insurance against bad weather. If you get just one fruit from every 20 flowers or so your tree will still carry a full crop. The fruits that remain on the tree will develop normally, becoming bigger and better at the expense of the fruitlets lost earlier. With topfruit such as apples and pears, the June drop also means branches won\u2019t become overburdened, then break. Shame it does not happen to plums\u2026<\/p> Most fruit trees will thin themselves naturally like this, particularly apples and pears. However, stone fruit needs extra help with the thinning process, although cherries tend not to neither drop nor need thinning at all. On an apple tree, the fruits that are lost are usually the size of gobstoppers. These can start falling in late June and carry on dropping until mid-July, with most lost about eight weeks after flowering.<\/p> So don\u2019t start to thin out your fruits any further until you\u2019re absolutely sure the drop has finished completely. If you do, you might find you\u2019re left with nothing as fruits continue to fall after you thin.<\/p> When to act<\/strong><\/p> Young trees often lose a higher proportion of their fruit in summer, as they\u2019re directing their energies into producing good, strong shoots and roots. This is perfectly normal and losses will reduce as the tree ages.<\/p> However, if a tree is relatively mature and you\u2019re certain it\u2019s not your own thinning regime that\u2019s affecting your yields, and you are getting a severe June drop year after year, then it\u2019s worth taking a look at some other factors that might be relevant:<\/p> If a tree is congested and light levels are low, it\u2019s wise to prune the tree to let in more light.<\/p> If there\u2019s not been much rain in spring (2020 would be an example of such a year) water really well at the roots and then mulch with a good 6-8cm of composted bark or garden compost to keep the moisture in.<\/p> When water, light and pruning don\u2019t seem to be a problem, the tree might be suffering from a lack of energy. This is often the result of unfavourable weather (cool daytime temperatures, too much cloud or warm nights). In which case, fertilise in spring using a general fertiliser such as Growmore \u2013 always following the pack guidelines as, confusingly, too much nitrogen can also cause fruit loss.<\/p> Almost all fruit trees<\/a> will try to bear fruit in the year they are planted: don\u2019t let them.<\/p> 1. In the year after planting, by all means let your fruit tree flower if it wants to, but as soon as the blossom has passed, pick ALL the tiny fruitlets on the end of the flower stalks off. Growing and ripening fruit requires tremendous effort on the part of the tree and your fruit tree is young and has not yet established. Let it take the whole of its first year of growth to do just that and to build up a rootstructure than can support fruiting.<\/p> 2. In the following year, let it flower and then THIN the fruitlets so that no more than half remain. We recommend taking off at least 2 out of three and 3 out of 4 is even better. Provided the branches do not start bending as the fruit ripens you can let these stay on the tree until they are ready to pick.<\/p> 3. In the third year just thin your crop to stop branches breaking under the weight of the fruit. Reduce fruitlet numbers by about a third and watch for signs of overloading.<\/p> 4. In the fourth year there is no need to thin except to stop breaking branches. This will be an ongoing risk with the huge croppers such as Victoria plums, Howgate Wonder apples and Comice pears.<\/p> Plant fruit trees<\/strong> in well-prepared, square holes that are at least 50% wider than the roots.<\/p> Unless you are on heavy clay, improve the soil by mixing in well rotted organic matter to the depth of one or two spades (on heavy clay, apply the organic matter afterwards as a mulch). Water in well, and then water regularly<\/strong> in dry weather.<\/p> Plant bush and half standard fruit trees in the same way as any other tree, as in our fruit tree planting video<\/a>, with a stout support stake<\/a> and a strong, padded tie<\/a>; maidens only need a bamboo cane<\/a> and some garden twine to hold them upright.<\/p> Good hygiene:<\/strong> Remove leaf litter and fallen fruit to prevent pests and diseases overwintering: it is safer to burn this than to compost it, unless you are certain that your compost gets really hot, at least 65C. Mulch<\/strong> prevents grass and weeds growing around your trees, preserves soil moisture, and slowly releases nutrients. Woodchips or straw are excellent, but whatever you use, do not pile it up against the trunk of your new tree: leave a few inches clear around it.<\/p> Protect your fruit trees from pests and diseases: aphids can reduce the vigour of young trees in summer, and an organic winter wash<\/a> kills the overwintering eggs and larvae of several pests. <\/p>\n\n \n\t\t\t\t\u00a324.99\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t\t\u00a37.99\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t\t\u00a384.99\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
The exception is stone fruit, which is the Prunus family such as cherries, plums, apricots, etc. These are prone to Silver Leaf disease and should be pruned when the sap is flowing, starting from Spring after bud break until late summer (Prun-us<\/strong> in Su<\/strong>mmer).<\/p>Remove Up to 30% of the Fruit: Quality Over Quantity!<\/h3>
Do not let your trees fruit within 12 months of planting as their energies need to be diverted into establishing a large root system to support future harvests. Not doing this can stress your tree and in extreme circumstances can kill it.<\/p>
When the June drop is finished, do a bit more thinning \u2013 we have specific instructions for different types of fruit tree (and different varieties of fruit where necessary) elsewhere on this site, but in general reduce what the June drop has left by a further 25-30%, leaving fruit evenly spaced along the branch with room to grow.<\/p>Consistent Water for Moist, Not Wet, Soil<\/h3>
Selecting an Orchard Site<\/h2>
Orchards on slopes shed frost<\/h3>
Wind shelter <\/h3>
Don\u2019t plant too high.<\/h3>
Get the soil right<\/h3>
Crop Maintenance<\/h2>
Fruit split<\/h3>
Splits, often branched, usually not very deep, appear on the skin, allow diseases and pests to attack the otherwise healthy fruit. <\/p>Curing Biennial Fruiting<\/h3>
Some varieties will crop this way naturally, and many others can be stressed into doing it, either by lack of water, and poor soil condition, or the weather: a spring frost leads to one year with no fruit, so the tree flowers and fruits extra heavily the next year, and the cycle begins. The \u201cBeast from the East\u201d of 2018\u2033 may well cause biennial fruiting in trees that previously cropped every year.<\/p>Fruit thinning improves your crop and makes young trees establish faster<\/h3>
\n
What you really want to grow are the roots and the main branches, so a little patience pays off!
In the third and subsequent years, merely thin the fruitlets enough so that the young branches don\u2019t snap. <\/p>\n
\n
The exceptions are horse and chicken manure, which are too high in Nitrogen when fresh and should be aged for a year first. <\/p>Plant Soft Fruit at the Same Time<\/h4>
Give the new fruit trees about a metre of space around their trunk at first, they need a couple of years to take over the root zone around them with no competition, after which the soft fruit won\u2019t be a problem for them. <\/p>What is the \u2018June drop\u2019?<\/h3>
Harvesting: How soon will my fruit tree crop? <\/h3>
Apply Rootgrow<\/a> directly to the roots before filling the hole, and make sure that the tree is at the same level in the soil as it was before being transplanted.<\/p>
Another option is to use debris from your fruit trees as mulch for unrelated plants a reasonable distance away. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRelated Products\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t
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