Orchard Work | Orchard Notes

Seedling Apple Trees – Let’s Give ’em a Go

In the face of all the best advice to the contrary, I’ve decided to try growing a new apple variety or two from seed.

We’ve had a mixed year on our allotment plot orchard. Here’s a round-up of the good, the bad and the downright ugly.

One of the most reliable fruits in the heritage orchard has a very long history and a very unique flavour.

A nurseryman provides details of a common method for storing apples, pre-fridges.

Excess apple loads can cause serious problems at this time of year; a leaning tree is one of the easier ones to remedy.

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.