Gardening Resources & Tips

[herbidacious]

I really need to pick mine before the snails eat them all.

[scullion]

for those who are interested, thompson and morgan have their bulbs for £3 again (including saffron crocuses).
https://www.thompson-morgan.com/newslet ... cq_source=

[herbidacious]

My saffron crocuses have not come up. I assume they should have. I think I had better not order any more bulbs... but you are tempting me, Scully!

I need to start planting some. I have delayed it because it's been so warm and don't want them to start coming up yet. The last two years there have been daffodil sightings in November. I have bought the grit though and have compost (possibly not enough) so ready to get going with the ones destined for pots.

[scullion]

the saffron is only just starting to sprout so you won't see anything until next month.
the corms i bought recently (arrived last week) were planted yesterday and some had tiny white shoots starting to show.

i am tempted to buy some more bulbs but they use yodel - who never put them where i ask them to but leave them by the post box to get soaked if it rains (which happened over the weekend we were away, recently, and so they replaced the saffron and freesias i bought because they were wet - so they worked out at £1.50 a pack!).

[herbidacious]

I think Pippi might have been using the pots it's in (round the front of the house!) as toilets.

[KeenCook]

Does anyone have any advice for me, please, on my James Grieve apple tree?

It has grown into a "weeping" tree, and the bottom two-thirds of the branches had no leaves. The branches are thin and spindly - which is why it's weeping, presumably.

I think it has suffered in the past, a) because its light was restricted by tall greenery on the fence behind it; and b) because it got very dry last year; I didn't really realise it needed to be watered, and I recall we had a lot of hot, dry weather. This year we have had less of that, and also, I remembered to water it from time to time.

It will obviously need a good prune; I have read that you shouldn't take more than 10-20% off; I had also heard that you should never prune more than a third off. However, if I do that, I won't go down to the leafless bits of the branches.
I also have a feeling that if I want it to grow upright, I probably need to take more off?

The advantage of it in this shape meant that I could easily reach the apples, although they refused to be picked and fell off. Again, the advantage of the weepingness was that they didn't have very far to fall ...

My instinct tells me that as it's a bit sad, I should wait and prune it later, rather than earlier - Feb or March next year. If I cut it back and then there's a hard winter, it might finish it off?

I would love to be able to take a pic of it to show you, but as it's against a backdrop of ivy and Virginia creeper, it's hard to see its shape.

Thank you! Sorry this is a bit convoluted ... It's about 7 years old, I think. I can't quite remember when I put it in.

[herbidacious]

I'm afraid if it were me I'd just get an expert tree person in

It was the year before last that we had really hot weather followed by rain then cold and this killed three large shrubs/small trees in my garden. Another two died this year which may yet be a knock on affect. Don't know.

I don't think you should really need to water it once it's established... But maybe the James Grieve is a special case.

Hopefully someone else will have more knowledge of this.

edit: such as Scully! It seems she has one.

[Suffs]

Formative pruning for apples and pears (not cherries and plums) is done in the winter.

If it were mine, this winter I would remove any weak looking growth and crossing branches etc to keep the tree open and airy. Then cut back each long branch by a third.

Most fruit trees shed some immature fruit in June, this is called the June drop… After this has happened I would check over and if necessary thin the fruit again so that there’s only one fruit per little branch.

Then in the early july I would reduce every side branch to 3 shoots. This might involve removing some which have fruit on but that can’t be helped.

Seven years is still a very young tree. Make sure the tree has plenty of water through the spring and summer two buckets full of water twice a week every week… Three times a week if it’s a very dry spell.

Oh, and a generous sprinkling of Fish, Blood & Bone feed over the root area in early March will be good.

Don’t let grass or other plants cover the ground around the trunk … a bare area around 3’ in diameter will lessen competition for nutrients and moisture. It also avoids giving any overwintering codlin moth etc a snug hiding place. Mulching with well rotted manure will help but don’t let it actually touch the trunk.

Hope that helps.

[KeenCook]

Thank you Suffs! Yes, that is indeed very helpful

[scullion]

james grieve is a spur bearing apple so can be pruned harder than tip bearing but not so hard that they produce 'water sprouts' (non fruit bearing) the next year.
i think the best bet is to read something like this https://gardenfocused.co.uk/fruitarticl ... /prune.php.

[KeenCook]

Thank you scullion, useful article