Latest News

We'll post news and articles here that will be of interest to apple growers both professional and amateur.

Saving Dorset Apple Varieties

Between 2007 – 2010 Liz Copas and Nick Poole set up the Dorset Apple Tree Analysis Project (DATA) in an effort to create a true Dorset cider from true Dorset cider varieties. They spent several years searched the remnants of traditional orchards across the county of Dorset to save any valuable old varieties hitherto unknown or ...

19/05/2020

Pruning and Grafting Course Feb 2020

Course @Trill 29 Feb 2020 Need help with pruning your fruit trees? Want to learn about grafting apple trees? Wondering what to do and how to do it? Tom will be running a one day course on pruning fruit trees at Trill Farm in East Devon on Feb 29th. Learn how to prune for maximum yield and healthy trees in a beautiful young o ...

05/12/2019

Common Questions about planting fruit trees...

When can I plant fruit trees? You can plant bare-rooted fruit trees between late November – end of March, according to favourable weather conditions. Fruit trees bought in pots can be planted at any time of the year but will need continued watering if planted in the summer. Where shall I plant my tree? Plant your fruit tree ...

02/12/2019

Three Autumn Orchard Tips

By Adam

1. Plan ahead for Fruit Storage - Pick the best fruit ahead of ripening for storage. Apples and Pears continue ripening in store, so pick them slightly under-ripe, so that they will be at their peak after a few months of storage. Our top five varieties for storage to store are; Ashmeads Kernel, Claygate Pearmain, Pinnova, Bra ...

12/10/2016

What are these spots on my apples?

By Adam

It is generally a pretty poor result for apple yields this year. With the unrelenting rain that occurred over late spring/summer, our insect friends were denied much opportunity to pollinate the flowers. But whilst it might not be a good year for fruit, it has been a good year for scab! Scab is an air-borne, fungal disease that ...

23/08/2016

An Apple Affair -Trained Fruit at West Dean Sussex

By Adam

One of the best places to see what can be achieved by training fruit are The Gardens of West Dean College near Chichester in Sussex www.westdean.org.uk.The gardens feature two restored kitchen gardens of the late Victorian period;the restoration is largely the work to Jim Buckland and Sarah Wain it has been beautifully done to t ...

23/08/2016

Recognising and treating Canker on Apple trees

By Adam

[Fungal Canker is a common problem on apple and pears] especially in the wetter west of the U.K. It will infect young twigs in the Spring and cross infect to older wood, it can infect the trunk and rarely it will kill a tree. On the positive side older trees badly infected will often fruit well, as the tree is put under press ...

23/08/2016