What's new, what's growing, what we're learning. Updates, guides and stories for people who take their garden seriously.
A walnut tree grows huge and, as a seedling, takes forever. Why you plan plenty of space, buy a grafted early-cropping variety and what juglone is about.
The worm in the apple is the codling moth larva. How to contain it without poison, with a pheromone trap, trap belt and windfall, and why the second generation makes the difference.
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.
