Welcome to Notes From the Orchard

Latest Posts and Updates

• Mature Apple Tree: Restoration PruningJanuary 28, 2020
  Here's how I went about the first phase of restorative pruning on a mature apple three that has been sadly neglected for a few years.
• Stepover Apple Trees: Winter PruningJanuary 21, 2020
  Here's how I pruned three stepover trees on our allotment plot, leaving them until January rather than pruning in late summer as usually advised.
• Pruning Session: Holly Mount Orchard, January 2020January 7, 2020
  On a grey and drizzly afternoon I spent a happy few hours helping to winter prune a few of the trees in Holly Mount community orchard.
• Book Notes: Apple, by Marcia ReissNovember 17, 2019
  A review of Marcia Reiss' social history of the apple, as told from a US-based perspective.
• Restoration Pruning of an Overgrown Plum TreeAugust 25, 2019
  Improving the branch structure of an overgrown and crowded plum tree on our allotment plot.
• How To: (Hopefully) Prevent an Orchard Aphid NightmareMay 30, 2019
  In which I attempt to save our damson from the ravages of an aphid infestation.
• Pruning: Crown-Lifting a Bramley’s SeedlingFebruary 20, 2019
  In which we remove the lower branches to create space for the tree's owner to move around their garden.
• Restorative Pruning Workshop, Platt Fields, ManchesterJanuary 23, 2019
  A day of pruning tuition and practice at Platt Fields community orchard with the Orchard Project.
• Introducing Plot #79, Orchard-in-ProgressJanuary 4, 2018
  Preparing the ground for a 20-tree orchard on a derelict allotment plot.