Fruit tree maintenance

There are loads of jobs that need doing as winter turns to spring, one of those is maintaining your fruit trees. These are some young trees (3-4 years old) that require a bit of attention if they’re to thrive, at the minute they’re struggling. One of the biggest threats to fruit trees as they establish themselves is grass, they have a lot of their roots near the surface which puts them in competition with the grass and can knock them right back. As you can see in this example the grass is taking over and if you strim it then you risk damaging the trunk. The best thing to do is to clear an area around the tree by carefully removing the grass, then to keep it away we like to lay some cardboard down and cover with a mulch - this will also feed the tree over time. For a feed in the short term a sprinkling of blood and bonemeal around the tree in early spring followed by some well rotted manure or compost in April will work wonders, just be sure to keep the area around the trunk clear.

These also had a few other issues that needed addressing. There are hares and rabbit in the area and there was evidence of bark nibbling on those trees without guards, sadly a couple were too far gone but the rest had new guards installed. It’s a windy site and the stakes had had their day, some were also badly positioned and rubbing the bark on the trees, where bark is rubbed away it can lead to disease entering the tree. So new stakes and ties were fitted. None of these trees needed a shaping prune yet but there were a couple with shoots coming from below the graft. This can happen on younger trees and these shoots need to be removed as they are from the rootstock below the graft (the rootstock will be from a different variety) and can take over.

Some basic maintenance such as this can be undertaken by anyone and the trees will really benefit from it. Pruning is a little more complicated but isn’t the mystery that people often think it is, though feel free to get in touch if you’d like some advice.

Don’t tidy your garden

It’s nearly the end of summer, many of the blooms have finished and the garden is starting to look a little messy. The temptation is there to whip out the snippers and trim back all the dead flowers and brown stems, but don’t, messy is good. If you’ve grown wildflowers or poppies for instance then you need to let them set seed and for that seed to fall on the ground for next year’s flowers. Many other plants have seeds that birds need for food and by removing the seed heads you’re taking away a valuable food source.

The stems and stalks of plants are also much needed habitat for a range of insects and our insects need all the help they can get right now. As the leaves fall and the herbaceous plants start to decay you get a natural covering of organic matter on the soil, this helps protect it from winter rains that would otherwise leach nutrients away and the leaves are also taken into the ground by earthworms so you get the soil improved for free. This surface material also provides another habitat for a range of small animals and you’ll see blackbirds in particular flinging it around with gusto as they search for food.

For us humans the urge to tidy things is a strong one and for years the gardening message has been to have an autumn tidy up and “put the garden to bed for the winter”. Nature however isn’t tidy and we need to learn what is best for our wildlife, so as the beauty of our summer flowers fades away we can appreciate a new beauty, that of birds and other animals feeding on the summer bounty. So save yourself a job, leave the decaying plants where they are and clear away what remains of them in spring, once the new growth is just starting to appear, your garden will be much better for it.

Reusing materials in the garden

Permaculture and reuse are important parts of our lives, we hate throwing anything away. So when we had an extension to the house we looked at all these great bricks from the old wall and wondered what we could do with them. They were diverted from the skip and when I redesigned the garden I put this path in using the them.

I looked at the desire line from house to patio, to veg beds, compost heaps and shed, laid it out with markers and put in gentle curves for looks and interest. Once happy they were installed, they're only set on sand so don't have to be permanent, meaning they can be moved or removed easily in the future. This also avoided the use of concrete, keeping the energy used low. They are very hard wearing, look great and will bed in wonderfully over time. Maintenance is also simple, if a brick gets damaged then just pop it out and replace, or if the other side is okay just flip it over.