What's new, what's growing, what we're learning. Updates, guides and stories for people who take their garden seriously.
On an espalier apple and pear bear in the smallest space. How to get the spot, the wire frame and the summer pruning right so a narrow wall becomes a fruit surface.
The tree form decides size, cropping start and harvest comfort. Spindle, bush tree, standard and espalier compared, and how formative pruning sets them.
A lot of fertiliser does not mean a lot of fruit. Why an open, mulched tree circle matters more than any bag of feed, and how too much nitrogen harms the tree.
Seed never comes true. How to preserve old farm varieties and grow several varieties on one tree with budding in late summer and whip grafting in winter.
GiSelA rootstocks finally make the sweet cherry pickable, and with the right pollinator it bears early. How to plan rootstock, pollination group and spot.
All four are plums, yet shape, freestone quality and flavour tell them apart. How to recognise Zwetschge, plum, mirabelle and greengage and plant the right one.
An airy crown is the best prevention against brown rot. How to plant and prune Zwetschge and plum correctly, without risking gummosis.
Not the winter but the early blossom is the apricot's risk. With a warm wall, a late-flowering variety and fleece on the frost night, the harvest succeeds here too.
Peach and nectarine bear only on the one-year-old shoot. Why you prune boldly, how the replacement spur works and when the best pruning time is.
