Orchard Work | Orchard Notes

Thinning Apple Fruitlets in our Air-Pot Mini-Orchard

Now is a the best time to hand-thin apple fruitlets, particularly on smaller trees and definitely on any that are growing in pots.

As leaves start to grow on your top-fruit trees it’s a good time to check your grafted plants for unwanted rootstock bud-break.

We’ve had a really good year for blossom in the back garden, with crab apple ‘John Downie’ putting on a splendid display.

A shout out for Steven Edholm’s superb SkillCult blog, where he’s been offering grafting advice and talking about his apple breeding project.

When winter came in 19th century America, it was out with the thin linen cloths to protect the fruit still on the trees.

As this 1915 ad shows, when it comes to useful orchard equipment, some ideas and designs never go out of date.

Feature image - Cordon Planting - trees planted

It’s always a good day when you get to plant new apple trees.

A few chilly images of the Apprentice House orchard at Quarry Bank Mill in Styal.

Another round up of videos, this time explaining the best way to cut and store scion wood for grafting.

Top fruit harvest season is here, so it’s time for a guide to picking apples and pears the safe and careful way.