Fruit tree growing

About this website

This website presents a lot of information about growing fruit trees, compiled by myself, Dan Neuteboom, on the basis of 60 years in the fruit growing profession. Scroll down for an index of the material on the web pages.

How to look after older fruit trees

At this moment in time, I 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.

Fruit tree consultancy

Dan Neuteboom, the author of all the material on this website, provides tailored advice on care, renovation and pruning of fruit trees, remotely, or with an on-site visit for locations in East Anglia, for gardeners, large estates, architects, estate agents, property developers and various government organizations. 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.

For projects involving new trees to be planted, we work with a few selected top-quality nurseries, and so once the varieties and numbers of trees have been defined, we can put you in contact with the appropriate fruit tree supplier.

Just send a message by email (enquiries@realenglishfruit.co.uk) or using our web contact form, and Dan 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 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 November 2021

From November, apple and pear trees can be pruned, but the task can be performed at any time up until March. Orchard hygiene is important to prevent the possibility of fungal infections. Ensure that the trees are protected against rabbits, muntjacs, deer and so forth.

Click here to read all our fruit growing tips for November.

Watch a video tutorial about how to prune a mature apple tree.

Fruit trees and global warming

In 2021, the changes in climate gave rise to some unexpected effects on fruit trees, with some varieties totally failing to set a crop, and others producing the best crops ever. Click here to read the article by Dan Neuteboom.

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 the open bowl tree shape.