Fruit tree growing

About this website

This website presents a lot of information about growing fruit trees. But at this moment in time, we would like to highlight the section focusing on how to keep old trees healthy and productive. Today, more than ever before, it is well worth looking after existing older fruit trees in the garden or allotment. Fruit, essential for good health, is likely to become more expensive in the coming years, due to Brexit and Covid-19. It takes 4-5 years to bring a new tree into reasonable production, and so it makes sense to look after older trees as they are already capable of producing good crops, with the right care. Older fruit trees are larger and so take up more CO2, contributing to a healthier environment. There are ways of looking after trees over 30 years old to keep them in production. Read our article and discover the 6 main points to maintain fruit trees at a manageable size.

Consulting

Dan Neuteboom, the author of all the material on this website, can provide tailored advice on care, renovation and pruning of fruit trees, remotely, or with an on-site visit for locations in East Anglia. Over the course of his career, Dan has developed in-depth knowledge of fruit trees both in garden orchards and in large-scale commercial orchards. Some reader opinions are visible on our customer comments page.

Just send a message by email (enquiries@realenglishfruit.co.uk) or using our web contact form, and he will provide an estimate for the solution. Please send a few photos of the site and the fruit trees concerned.

Growing quality fruit trees

This website also presents information on the entire spectrum of fruit trees for the garden:

• advice on which trees to plant
• advice on how to plan a new garden orchard
• planting fruit trees
• how to deal with fruit tree diseases
• pruning fruit trees
• thinning
• training fruit trees as espalier, fan, cordon or stepover
• and much more.

Use the menu at right or top, or the site map below (scroll down) to find the topics you need.

Why is the website called www.realenglishfruit.co.uk? Because there is a difference between the fruit that you find in your supermarket, and the fruit that you could grow in your garden. Wherever you live, there will be certain varieties best suited to local conditions, and these will deliver the best taste, texture and succulent juiciness. We can recommend the right varieties of apple, pear, plum, greengage and cherry. So you can grow your own real English fruit. That’s why we are realenglishfruit.co.uk. Not supermarket.fruit.uk!

Fruit tree care May 2021

May is a critical time of year for fruit trees, more so than ever this year considering that most people in the UK were affected by 14 days of spring frost. Cherries, plums, pears and peaches have had a tough time. Only very late apple blossoms, that have still not progressed beyond the green stage, are free from frost damage so far. It is still too early to evaluate the overall crop outlook for the different fruit crops.
Newly-planted trees need special care and regular watering, and even established trees may need help with water and mulch. Fruit trees are now well into the various stages of flowering and or growth. Lots of new green leaves are forming. These are very important for the trees’ well-being. Parasites can be particularly problematic, particularly those that damage foliage. The leaves are excellent indicators as to how the trees are coping with various pests and diseases (take a look at our diagnostic leaf atlas). Pheromone traps should be place in apple and plum trees (see video below). Click here to discover all our fruit growing tips for May.

How to grow almonds and walnuts

We are receiving a lot of requests on how to grow almonds and walnuts, and how to prune almonds and walnuts. The main problems are frosts, and squirrels, which can seriously reduce crops. Just click on the photo below to read more.

Video channel

The videos published on this website illustrate the critical stages of fruit development, from the period from blossom to fruit formation, in a chronological sequence throughout the year. Click here to see the videos currently available.

Watch a video tutorial about how to prune an old apple tree.