Sallygarden Smallholding - The Forum For Sustainable Living

i haverecently taken over a neglected garden with a number of mature apple trees. last year seemed to be a bumper crop but this year produces hardly anything. now this could have been due to the poor year or a product of my further neglect. i know that they need to be pruned and have been researching techniques but does anyone know of any courses that are run. i just missed apple day at the organic centre in leitrim. also the branches seem to have a heavy coating of lichen. can anyone advise if this is normal or harmful. any advice would be appreciated.

Hi Connor
We had no apples this year either from our 6 trees - was advised by a friend in the know that it could have been due to the frosts around the time the trees were in blossom. We lightly pruned them last week but have no idea if this was correct or not. Have resorted to raiding other peoples orchards this year (with permission I might add!), some of which had a good coating of lichen but didn't appear to hamper the harvest.
Hope you have better luck nexy year with them.
Morag

What should I put on our baby apple and plum trees at this time of year. Fungicide was advised as was manure at base. Very few apples this year and hoping this is because the trees are young/ planted only two-three years. The trees seem healthy enough, a very few black spots on one apple if I recall. Could the bluebells planted about the base be at the root of the problem???
D

Apples crops seem to be hit or miss, some years a bumper crop, other years nothing. Also your own garden cud have a bumper crop and an orchard down the road nothing ... whats the cause? Your guess as good as mine. My guesses are local variations which include frost pockets, wind direction/shelter and whether local honeybees find your trees or the neighbours first! Also even if local micro conditions are identical there's also the factor of apple tree variety to take into account.

I've heard that fruit trees like a sprinkle of wood ash around their base and I plan to spread some mushroom compost around our trees this spring.