Top fruit harvest season is here, so it’s time for a guide to picking apples and pears the safe and careful way.
Category: Orchard Work
Orchard Pest & Disease Watch, 2020 Edition
There are a few of the usual problems to keep an eye on in the orchard this year.
How To: Thin Out Apple and Pear Fruitlets
Fruit thinning is an essential operation to carry out to improve your chances of better quality fruit this year and more fruit buds next year.
Another Holly Mount Pruning Session, Feb 2020
A grey but dry and hugely enjoyable Sunday afternoon was well spent on helping to finish off this year’s winter pruning work.
Mature Apple Tree: Restoration Pruning
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 Pruning
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 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.
How To: (Hopefully) Prevent an Orchard Aphid Nightmare
In which I attempt to save our damson from the ravages of an aphid infestation.
Pruning: Crown-Lifting a Bramley’s Seedling
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, Manchester
A day of pruning tuition and practice at Platt Fields community orchard with the Orchard Project.