Category Archives for Fruit Gardening
Growing Crops under Glass
This section is concerned with some of the general principles underlying protected cultivation. With the aid of some form of protective structure it is possible to extend the production season for a number of fruits and vegetables. These structures include … Continue reading
Garden Tools and Equipment
The essential gardening operations can be carried out with a small number of tools such as spade, fork, rake, trowel and Dutch hoe with a draw-hoe for taking out drills and earthing up potatoes. Nevertheless you will undoubtedly accumulate a … Continue reading
Good Husbandry: Growing Fruit and Veg
Emphasis must always be placed on growing a good plant and accepting that good cultivation, proper manuring and all that is involved in the splendid term ‘good husbandry’ form the proper foundations for success. And never forget that good husbandry … Continue reading
Fruit Training and Propagation
Why prune at all? Left to themselves fruit trees become over-crowded, diseased and pest-ridden, carrying small fruits on exhausted branches. On the other hand, excessive pruning can lead to too much growth and to light crops of poor quality. All … Continue reading
Espalier Trees: How to Train Fruit Trees
Training trees against a wall Espalier (pronounced “es-PAL-yer”) trees look attractive, whether grown against the house or on a suitable south-facing garden wall. This sunny position also helps fruit trees to produce a better crop than if allowed to grow … Continue reading
Rules for Using Chemical Garden Sprays
Sprays Chemical sprays are of three kinds; insecticides, fungicides and herbicides. All should be treated with great caution for as well as killing insects, fungus diseases and weeds, they can injure human beings and domestic animals, sometimes with fatal consequences. … Continue reading
Ripe Pickings from Your Garden
RIPE PICKINGS Even the best-flavoured varieties of fruit will taste very ordinary if not harvested at the correct time. During ripening, acids in fruits become weaker, sugars accumulate and the aromatic compounds develop, to give their characteristic flavours. If you … Continue reading
Growing Unusual Fruits, Berries and Nuts
BEYOND THE FRUIT BOWL Once you have mastered growing the more common fruit crops you can turn your attention to the less usual ones such as apricots, peaches, nectarines and grapes, which need a favourable site and a little encouragement … Continue reading
Greenhouses for Bountiful Fruit Cropping
Warm is Bountiful To pick and eat fresh fruits when they are in short supply and expensive in the shops is one of the pinnacles of the home gardener’s year. You can reach these heights by two main routes. The … Continue reading
Fruit Trees that are Lovely to Look At
PRetty Fruit Trees The massed blossom of an orchard is one of the delights of spring but the effect, alas, is shortlived; and once the petals start to fall the trees become quite dull until the fruits begin to colour. … Continue reading