Pruning and Aftercare © all photos
PRUNING - The two year fruit trees are generally pruned to make either Bushes of Half Standard forms. Bushes are topped at 75cm with the top 25cm or so forming the head (usually five strong buds). Half Standards are topped at approx 130cm leaving a clear stem of approx 1 metre. One year trees or 'Maidens' can range in size from 60cm for the very dwarfing Malus 'Laura' to 180+cm for many plums, cherries, and ornamentals. Some naturally produce many side shoots (Cox's Orange Pippin) while others (Bramley's Seedling) produce none but instead make a strong single stem. There are many books available on pruning techniques and like pollination it is sometimes overcomplicated. The most popular and clearest is 'The Fruit Expert' by D.G. Hessayon - PBI Publications.
STAKING - To stake or not to stake? There is no need to stake any apple tree that is grown as a bush on rootstock MM.106 or M.27, or any pear, plum, gage damson, apricot peach that are grown as bushes on any rootstock. Apple trees needing stakes are bushes grown on M.26 and any Half Standard as descibed above under 'Pruning'. I regret that I am not able to supply stakes as carriage costs are prohibitive. AFTERCARE and PEST CONTROL
With a little pre-planning its possible to guard against most major pests of fruit trees with little or no chemical spraying. Plum Moth caterpillar causes most damage to plums, damsons, gages. Its maggot burrows into fruit and can give the owner a nasty surprise! A caterpillar monitor (picture left) in place from late May to early August will trap the males and prevent this problem. One trap will treat approx 5 trees and costs approx £6.00 from most garden centres. Greasebands (picture right) tied around your
fruit trees in October will prevent winter moth females
Ladybirds Keep an eye open for Ladybird larva from May, they don't look like the adult that we all know and love. Try not to crush, spray or damage them as they will soon develop into a very useful aphid eater and repay you by repelling invaders from your trees along with your other plants and shrubs.
Wasps can be a very annoying pest on most fruit but especially plums and apples if there are nests nearby. The nests can be in farm buildings, sheds, garages in fact anywhere that is relatively undisturbed and can also be located in the open ground with just one entrance/exit hole. One of my favourite tricks is to sacrifice a little of the crop before the main attack and cut a few apples or plums into pieces and leave at the base of the trees. They much prefer a ready prepared meal ! The picture (right) shows wasps (and flies) are diverted to this peeled Reverend Wilks apple in August and the fruit on the trees nearby is left relatively intact.
Storing Apples The best way to store apples is to lay them in trays resting on crumpled or shredded newspaper...better still what a great way to utilise your shredded paperwork! Place the trays is a cool, dark frost free place, maybe a garage or shed. Its a good idea to 'condition' them for a few days before storage by letting them sweat out their excess moisture To do this simply leave them in a cool, airy place, you can even leave them outdoors on a frost free night and store them properly in the morning while still cool before the sun warms them. Try to store them in batches of the same variety, label them if you think you might forget which is which. Make sure they don't touch in case one should start to go rotten, this will stop it spreading to its neighbour. Check them fairly regularly and discard any showing signs of rotting. "The saws cutting the huge logs ground out their shrill lament all day long, every five or ten minutes the ground shuddered like a drum in the dark at the hard impact of giant works of nature, seeded there by the wind a thousand years before. The forest was dying. I heard its lamentations with a heavy heart, as if I had come there to listen to the oldest voices anyone had ever heard" extract from the memoirs of Pablo Neruda email for general questions (to order click bottom link) - click here to email me |
climbing the
tree to lay her eggs. A £3.50 (approx) greaseband is long enough to
treat approx 8-10 trees. If you tree is staked tie a band around that
too! Remember to keep the soil around your trees lightly cultivated this
is good practice and will expose any soil born pests to natural
predators. It also keep the soil 'open', stops it 'crusting' over in
drying winds and allows Spring and Summer rainwater to settle and penetrate the soil more
easily.
Canker
A customer's newly planted
apple tree succumbed to canker this season. He kindly sent me a photo
and I could see the cause. Notice the 'snag' on the picture left. The
tree was pruned to an 'eye' to encourage fruit spurs to form but this
particular 'eye' failed to break and the result was dieback and slow
healing. This delay allows canker spores to enter the tree and it died
from this point upwards. Luckily it will be possible to save the tree by
cutting below the dieback and then disinfecting the secateurs. If an bud
fails to break cut the snag back flush with the main stem, this way it
will heal more easily and cleanly. 
