Spring into action to make your garden blossom

I make sure I start pruning in the first week in February, knowing that despite any hold-ups, such as inclement weather or week-long health and safety courses, I can still have the dozen or so apple trees pruned by the end of February no matter what.

If you are reading this and thinking, "damn, I haven't done mine yet", don't despair, you still have until the buds start swelling, which can be mid to late March depending on the weather.

When pruning apple trees, there are four major procedures to follow: remove any dead branches, cut out any diseased and damaged wood, remove any crossing or badly placed branches especially in the centre of the tree, allowing more light in and better air circulation around the branches, and thin out fruiting spurs along the branches.

This last task will give you less fruit, but the fruit produced will be larger and healthier because of it.

If you don't have the courage to tackle the pruning yourself, don't just assume that your 'jobbing' gardener or gardening maintenance firm can do it.

Some will, but it does take some expertise and can be an art form getting the best fruit and shape from a neglected old tree.

I've seen many badly pruned fruit trees over the years, so if you don't want to do it yourself, there are people who specialise in fruit tree pruning who will advise you or do the pruning for you.

All fruit trees benefit from being fed every year, and I try and feed all our fruit trees at the beginning of March using Growmore at the rate of 2-3oz per square yard, followed by Sulphate of Potash at the same rate.

Growmore is a general fertiliser with trace elements and the Sulphate of Potash promotes flowering and then fruiting, both can be purchased from most garden centres.

The small orchard here at Wytherstone Gardens is in part of an old grass paddock. The whole area is under planted with thousands of daffodils so, at this time of year, I carefully tip-toe around the trees when feeding them so as not to damage any emerging shoots from the bulbs.

Even if the base of the tree is clear of all vegetation, it is no good sprinkling the fertiliser around the base of the trunk as its feeding roots radiate out slightly beyond the spread of the branches (tree canopy), so you must apply the fertiliser over the whole area of the tree's root system.

On some of our older apple trees this can be an area of 20-30 sq yards or more, so I apply the feed on top of the grass knowing that rain will wash it in very quickly.

My next thought is how I am going to tackle the pest and disease problems that we tend to suffer every year.

There are about 60 different types of insects that can attack apple trees, never mind fungal diseases and cankers. And short of smuggling in a large quantity of spent plutonium from the former Soviet Union, there is little chance of irradiating all our tree's problems.

A lot of products which gardeners had in their arsenal, certainly for the amateur market, have been withdrawn over the last few years, leaving very few chemicals at our disposal for spraying fruit trees.

Gone are the winter tar washes that killed lichens and moss on the bark as well as any insects harbouring in the branches over winter, including, unfortunately, beneficial insects such as lady birds and lace wings.

I try to use as little as possible on our fruit trees and only spray as a last resort. Mancozeb-based fungicides such as Dithane can be used to combat apple scab, whilst Rotenone-based insecticides, such as Liquid Derris, kill most pests such as aphids and apple sawfly.

If you do decide to use chemicals you must follow the instructions carefully and spray at the right time of year.

First, spray at the first bud burst stage (normally in April), then again when nearly all the petals have dropped off the flowers, and again in June to early July when there are tiny little fruitlets forming.

Avoid spraying insecticides when the flowers are fully open (late April to May) as this is when the beneficial insects are pollinating your fruit trees.

I will be using two things myself this year, hormone traps to capture male Codling moths (Codling moth caterpillars bore into the apples making them maggoty) and I will be trialling a homeopathic remedy made from Thuja and Graphites for control against canker. It will be very interesting to see the results.

To be honest, unless you want pristine looking 'supermarket' fruit, use little or no chemicals and don't worry about the odd blemish, as we all know that the fruits off our own trees always seem to taste better, no matter what lumps and bumps they have.

Updated: 15:41 Wednesday, March 09, 2005