Relevant points for the garden orchard in the month of July

This is the best time of the year to carry out summer pruning on plums, pears, cherries and peaches. Watch a video
Check that nets protecting the various fruit crops are still bird proof. Watch a video
Check pheromone traps for apple sawfly and plum sawfly. Replace the lure if necessary. Watch a video
Prepare the ground for planting new fruit trees in the autumn/winter period.
Thin fruits if their density on the tree is too high. Watch a video
Cut out tree canker and paint the wounds to stop re-infection. Watch a video
Spray to prevent bitter pit in apples.

Weekly update for cherry trees – first week of August

Now that the cherry crops have been picked, that is if spring frosts and birds did not do any major damage to your crop prospects, it is a good time to consider the size of the trees. This is the right time now to summer prune your tree(s), bringing them back to a size you can cope with. DO NOT LEAVE IT TO THE WINTER TIME. Summer pruning means cutting out surplus older wood and creating more sun and room for younger 1 to 3-year-old wood.

Photo courtesy of Images by John ‘K’ / flickr.com

Read our month-by-month fruit tree care calendar.

Video: Summer pruning

The main objective of summer pruning is to ensure that the apples on a tree develop good colour and flavour. When summer pruning, cut out the vertical shoots in order to enable light to enter the tree and come into contact with fruit that was previously shaded. Work on the lower part of the tree first. In addition to the one-year old shoots, you will also find some shorter darts, which should be left, because they are essential for next year’s production. Don’t prune the higher part of the tree too much, because pruning here tends to stimulate further growth.