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If you are growing restricted forms of top fruit trees – cordons, espaliers, fans, pyramids, stepovers or even bushes – you need to undertake your pruning in the summer to help ensure maximum fruitfulness and vigour as well as for keeping your trees in good shape. Additionally, the removal and shortening of shoots and thereby leaves will allow more light to get the fruit which is essential for late ripening varieties. Continue reading
The flowers of the ‘top’ fruit trees that we grow in the UK – apples, pears, cherries, plums, peaches and nectarines – have both male and female parts and for a fruit to be created these female parts must receive pollen from the male parts of another flower – usually from another tree. In the majority of cases this means that you cannot grow a single top fruit tree by itself – unless you happen to have another close by in a neighbour’s garden. Continue reading
It is interesting to note that the last few years have seen more and more gardeners growing their plants organically and this is being reflected commercially with a considerable number of growers doing likewise. But why is this happening? Is it just a modern fad or are the public generally becoming more concerned about the number of chemicals that are being used in the food they are going to eat? Continue reading
As far as I am concerned raspberries are the best of summer and early autumn fruits yet until fairly recently neglected by commercial growers who were more intent on growing strawberries. Fortunately there has been a resurgence in raspberry growing commercially in the UK and this has benefited the amateur grower both in terms of new cultivation methods and varieties. Continue reading
Yes I really mean an edible hedge! It’s certainly a much cheaper and more attractive way of creating a boundary than erecting a fence or building a wall and if you don’t have space for a boundary hedge or have an existing hedge which you can’t convert, how about screening a compost bin, shed or vegetable plot? Perhaps the best thing is to consider an edible hedge as an extension to your existing fruit plot thereby extending your range of fruit cultivation to the very limits of your garden. Continue reading
For some reason the word rhubarb always seems to generate laughs whereas the reality is that it is a very fine vegetable which is well suited to growing in the garden. But is it a vegetable or fruit? This is always a very interesting question. Continue reading
The currant family – black, red, pink and whitecurrants – are easy to grow and are just superb to eat during the warm days of summer whether fresh or cooked. Although all of these currants are part of the Ribes family there are two distinct ways of growing them. Continue reading
Fruit as we know it is changing! Well after a fashion anyway! Breeders have started to move on from simply developing different varieties of existing kinds of fruits to developing distinctly different types of existing fruits to interspecies crosses of existing fruits. Continue reading
Although many TV gardening programmes would have you think otherwise a very large percentage of the UK population have a very small garden or perhaps just a patio. This makes those owners of these small spaces wonder what they can grow. My advice is always that you can grow many plants nowadays in containers so why not have a go yourself if the majority of your garden is a patio? For many years shrubs, perennials and even small trees have been grown in containers but – despite a small following – it is only recently that there has been a trend towards growing fruit in containers. Continue reading
Over the years there has been much discussion as to whether it is best to plant fruit trees in the autumn (late November/December) or spring. So much so in fact that the novice and often more experienced gardener becomes totally confused! I have always been an advocate of planting in the autumn and I preach this message wherever I go; most certainly I very rarely plant anything in my garden in the spring unless there are real extenuating circumstances. But why plant in the autumn when there is still so much to do in the garden? Continue reading
Although generally considered to be part of the plum family, damsons (and bullaces) are of the species Prunus insititata whereas plums are of the species Prunus domestica. The name ‘damson’ is derived from Damascus in Syria where it is considered that it originated and was introduced into England, in due course, by the Romans. The damson is also known as the damson plum or Damask plum in parts of Europe where it is used to make the spirit slivovitz. Bullaces, which are more acidic and lower in sugar than damsons, are considered to be native to Britain. Continue reading
Growing grapes at home is well worth the effort and whether growing for dessert or wine there are two main pruning and training systems which should be followed to maximise the cropping of the plants and to keep them under control. Grapes can grow fearsomely quickly if not strictly managed! Continue reading
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