How to care for your fruit trees
Follow housetohome's top gardening tips
Encourage the 'June drop'
From the end of June, fruit trees shed their fruitlets to allow for a
healthy growth of fruit later in the season. They won't all drop off by
themselves, so give them a helping hand. Thin apple, pear, peach,
nectarine and plum trees with secateurs, but only thin apricot trees
when the crop is really heavy.
Cut back formal trees In late July, prune shoots
longer than 20cm on formally trained trees such as pear cordons. With
all fruit trees, cut off dead or dying branches, thin overcrowded stems
and tidy up around the base.
Quench their thirst Protect your fruit trees during
dry weather by digging in a few inches of compost around the base,
keeping on top of the weeding and giving the root area a really good
water at least once a week in summer.
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Fruit tree
