The Gardening Year for the Fruit Garden

Spring

Throughout spring, keep buds and flowers protected from frost by using garden fleece or netting. This will also offer protection against birds. Peaches, nectarines and strawberries grown under cover will need to be pollinated by hand; vines may also need some help.

New vine shoots should be pinched out and disbudded, as should fans of stone fruits that have been grown under cover. Prune back branch leaders on trained trees. Bark-ring any apple or pear trees that are over-vigorous. Check supports and ties, and adjust where necessary.

New fruit trees should be planted by early spring at the latest, unless they are container-grown. Early spring is also the time to think about grafting apples, cherries, pears or plums from scions taken in winter.

Alpine strawberry seeds may be sown indoors, ready for planting out in early summer.

By late spring, fruit plants will benefit from mulching and feeding. Wall-trained fruit often need additional watering at this time of year. Place straw or leylandii clippings between strawberry plants to keep soil from splashing onto the setting fruits. Peg down strawberry runners in prepared ground, ready for transplanting in late summer. Clear away unwanted raspberry suckers, leaving four to six to each stool.

Sawfly lay their eggs on gooseberry bushes at this time of the year, keep a close eye out for them or the hatched caterpillars, as they can defoliate a bush in a matter of days. Spray with derris or remove affected leaves.

Summer

Throughout the summer, use netting to protect cherry trees and fruiting bushes and canes from the birds. Add a layer of mulch around trees and bushes to conserve moisture; feed as necessary.

In early summer, thin the fruits of apricots and peaches, and remove unwanted or weak canes from raspberries. Plant out new alpine strawberry plants, and water established strawberries well, pegging out runners if this was not done in late spring. Blackberries and hybrid berries may be tip-layered, or leaf-bud cuttings may be taken.

By mid summer, ensure that all fruit trees grown against walls receive regular irrigation whilst their fruits are swelling. Unwanted shoots should be removed from apricots, cherries, figs and plums so that the tree does not become over laden. Start training espalier and dwarf trees.

Trained apples, pears and pyramid plums should be pruned in late summer, and their fruit thinned if they have a heavy crop. Rooted strawberry runners may be planted out at this point, into ground that has been suitably enriched with old compost or manure.

Autumn

In early autumn, cut down the old canes of raspberries and blackberries as soon as the fruit has been picked to make room for the new growth. Tie in young canes.

Placing a cloche over established perpetual strawberries can keep them warm and fruiting for a little longer, although they must be watered regularly to ensure that they do not dry out. Cut...

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