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.

So, take a look at our section about how to look after old fruit trees , with details on:

• how to restore an old orchard
• how to restore an old fruit tree
• how to prune an old fruit tree
• the right nutrition for old trees
• how to add new trees next to old trees

If you need expert help, Dan Neuteboom, the author of all the material on this website, can provide tailored advice on care, renovation and pruning of old fruit trees, remotely or with an on-site visit. 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.

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 January 2021

Fruit trees are now in dormancy, and so this is a good time of year for planting new trees. There are many other jobs that need to be performed in order to ensure that both the trees and their immediate environment are conducive to tree health and good cropping. and capable of producing good fruit.

Click here to discover all our fruit growing tips for January.

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

Dan featured in Suffolk Magazine

Dan and Henrietta Neuteboom have been featured in an article in Suffolk Magazine (October 2020) titled “Dan’s wonderful world of apples“. The article by Marion Welham conveys Dan’s lifelong passion for apples, from the age of 4 when apples were an important part of nutrition in occupied Holland, right up until today and his ambition to help anyone grow quality fruit in their garden. To read the article, click on the link below to download it as a pdf, or click here to read the article on the Suffolk Magazine website. Article and pdf courtesy of Archant/Suffolk Magazine.

Suffolk Magazine article in pdf format

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 on how to shape a tree without pruning, narration by Dan Neuteboom, camera by John Paddy.

How to keep older trees in production

Working with old trees on a regular basis gives a real feel of companionship with these living organisms, which, like all of us, are ageing, changing over the course of time, learning to deal with the changing environment around them. 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.