Early Apples...Ready Now

Favourable weather has allowed early ripening of some varieties, whilst we are still in July.

A sweet red dessert apple George Cave has a crisp white flesh and is great to eat now off the tree.

George Cave - really sweet !

For cooking apples a large cooker cooking to a froth, needs a bit of sweetening, Scotch Dumpling

 

 

Scotch Dumpling Apple on the tree

Scotch Dumpling in the Kitchen

This Apple tree has the best blossom in Spring, apples cook to a froth

Pest Damage on Fruit Trees - Aphids[Greenfly]

Look for Symptoms of attack on Fruit Trees - twisted young growth, curled leaves with aphids on the underside, black mould on leaves , presence of ants on the stems

 In Spring and Summer aphids feed on the sap of  fruit trees, damaging the young growth . They enjoy young and soft  growth. The adults arrive on the young growth of fruit trees traveling miles on hot air currents.
During warm weather a small colony will soon become an infestation as they multiply rapidly.
Populations can increase more than tenfold in a week as they produce live young[no egg involved] and no
fertisation is required.They inject enzymes into the plant to digest the sap, this distorts growth. They excrete waste sugars and this grows black mould on leaves and stems of fruit trees.Ants often feed on the sugar as do bees.

Distorted stem curled leaves

Treatment -Specific chemicals targeting aphids are usually very quick and effective, these generally contain  
 Pirimicarb .General insecticides should be avoided as these kill benefical insects like Ladybird larvae and
 preditory mites etc..
 For low environment impact, several sprays of soft soap solution are effective.
 Look at your trees often
 Now you know what you are looking for, spot it early, and treat the damage will be greatly lessened.

The difference between a good gardener and an average one...is one week
 
Often aphid populations decline naturally due to predators[birds included], weather, the growth becomes
tougher and less palatable. On young trees the damage can be serious,as trees get bigger the damage is less significant , it can be pruned out without affecting tree shape or yield.

Young growth damaged BUT once sprayed growing away

 In our polytunnels at Adams Apples we use introduced parasitic wasps that keep aphid damage to a
 minimum. To an extent these build up in the summer on our outside Fruit Trees, but one or two sprays are generally required to grow nice straight Apple Trees.

Windbreaks for Orchards

Shelter but not shade is generally good for orchards.

• It raises the springtime temperatures encouraging bees, pollination, and fruit set 

• It reduces windrock of trees in the winter that can lead to tree death, in the Autumn it reduces fruit fall

Shelterbelt trees need careful choice, they can themselves harbour diseases[Poplar for example is a host to canker], they can take up too much space [conifers increase in width and are not easily trimmed].

The hedge on the left is Red Alder [Alnus rubra] before trimming 15/7/2011

 Alders tick alot of the boxes as they leaf early and can be trimmed tight they can be reduced in height when too tall.

After trimming top and sides using a hedge trimmer and loppers

The Orchard is on the other side of the trimmed shelter now reduced from 4.5metres to 2.5metres

This bright red hedge[Photinia 'Red Robin'] is used on our nursery to provide shelter for our plants growing in pots

Summer Pruning of Apple Trees

Before 15th July note long whippy growth

Afterwards long growth removed to three leaves exposing fruit and wood to the sun

July and August are the best times to complete summer pruning of apple and pear trees both in the orchard and  trained cordons and espaliers.Fruit will be ripening and swelling in size, pruning the extension growth that has arisen this season will expose the fruit to ripen fully in the sun ,achieving its full colour and sweetness.
In addition this pruning exposes the tree's wood to the sun which will create more fruit bud for next year.
By pruning in late summer the trees energy is sapped because leaves are removed this shocks the tree into fruit production for next year, so even where there is not a heavy crop this type of pruning will encourage an unproductive tree to bear fruit.
Pruning in the winter time can result in vigorous growth, summer pruning slows growth and encourages fruit production.
www.adamsappletrees.co.uk