This is the first in a series of seasonal articles intended to help you care for your young fruit tree. We will guide you through the next three months, with advice on what you can do each month to support your tree, as well as other things to watch out for in the garden.
April
Fruit tree tasks:
- Check the condition of trees planted last autumn/winter, including staking and ties. Make sure they are at the correct depth and have not sunk following planting, check the graft union and root collar
- Remove blossom from any new young trees (3 years or less). The energy that it takes the tree to grow fruit would be better placed going towards tree growth. Any very young branches that produce fruit are also likely to droop and break, so it’s worth preventing them from fruiting until they are a little older
- If you are behind in pruning your apples and pears and they have just but not fully come in growth, carry out any last minute minor formative pruning before trees are fully in leaf. (Ideally apples and pears should be pruned when dormant but pruning can be done right at the beginning of the growing season)
- Consider setting up a water butt at this time of year when you can take advantage of April showers and while rainwater is more readily available. You will likely be grateful for the stored water as temperatures rise
Elsewhere in the garden:
- Early fruit tree blossom will start to open
- Watch out for swallows and swifts as they return from winter migration
- Try to avoid cutting back trees, hedges, or groundcover, in areas where birds might be nesting
- Keep an eye out for emerging wildlife, such as dormice, reptiles and amphibians
- Slow worms come out of hibernation. At this time they need to bask for extended periods to get their body temperature up to the level where they can function fully
May
Fruit tree tasks:
- Stone fruit trees (eg plum, damson, greengage, cherry) should be pruned late spring/summer time when in full growth. Don’t prune too early when they are still coming out of dormancy. Late May/June is best for stone fruit varieties
- Check stakes and loosen ties where needed. Stakes need to be firm enough in the ground that they offer protection to the young tree in high winds. Ties and stakes should be checked to make sure they are not cutting into or rubbing against the bark. Loosen any that look too tight or that are rubbing, and remove those no longer needed by the tree
- Nick or notch apples and pears where needed to control the size or vigour of your tree. Likely only to be needed on more established trees where vigour is an issue
- Control grass and plant growth under small and young trees. Young trees are faster to establish if they don’t have the competition of grass and other weeds. When they are established this is no longer needed. We recommend that you place a mulch around new trees to aid establishment, reduce competition and reduce irrigation requirements - by preventing drying of the soil surface
Elsewhere in the garden:
- May Day welcomes in summer
- Fruit tree blossom is in full bloom
- Dawn chorus is in full swing
- Cow parsley, red campion and greater stitchwort are now profuse in hedgerows
- Bees will be out in full force. Enjoy spotting bumblebees, honeybees and solitary bees in your garden – there are more than 250 bee species in the UK
- May is the heart of hedgehog breeding season, also known as ‘the rut’. Male hedgehogs produce very loud snorting noises to entice females!
June
Fruit tree tasks:
- Prune stone fruit varieties now and avoid further pruning when dormant. Formative pruning and shaping should be carried out on all trees annually to establish the desired shape and final form. More established trees which have achieved a framework should be pruned to encourage fruiting over growth
- If the summer is particularly dry, water any young trees or struggling older ones. Monitor the need for irrigation over the spring and summer as this is when young trees will be most at risk. There are various options for irrigating trees – find out more here: Arboricultural Association - Watering Young Trees
- After the June drop, thin remaining fruits where required. Thinning fruits mean you get fewer but larger and better quality fruit. For a guide to fruit thinning click here
- Prop any branches that will have a heavy crop. Even if you thin the fruit, your tree can still have a heavy crop, so it is worth propping up any branches that could be vulnerable to damage
- Trunk banding with corrugated cardboard can be used to provide a suitable pupating site for codling moth larvae. This can be removed before codling moth adults emerge
- Think about employing an integrated pest management system to ‘control’ but not eradicate pests from your orchard. Further guidance can be found here: Pests and diseases - The Orchard Project
Elsewhere in the garden:
- Wildflowers will be at peak bloom from June
- Elderflower will be blooming in the hedgerows
- Bat pups are usually born in June. Lactating female bats need to eat a lot of insects to feed themselves and their young
- By mid June, all damselfly species will have emerged as adults from their larval form - if you have a pond they could lay eggs this month. Look out for demoiselle and banded demoiselles in flight
- June and July are the main months for hoglets to be born, with hedgehogs having on average a litter of four or five young. It is essential not to disturb nesting hedgehogs
Do you have any nice photos of yourself and/or your family with the subsidised fruit tree you purchased from us?
Please send them to us! We welcome updates on how your trees are doing, and with your permission we would like to feature some of these images on our website.