Knowledge Base

When choosing a new fruit tree to plant, there are certain things I always bear in mind. The first is – is the fruit expensive or hard to find in the shops (such as mulberries and quince)? No po … read more

As a small child, every Saturday afternoon would entail a visit to my grandmother. A redoubtable woman in every sense, she loved her garden and through spring and summer we would drive out to a near … read more

Gardening can mean many things to different people - from the aesthetic of creating a beautiful herbaceous border, to the sheer visceral pleasure of burrowing in the soil to unearth your first new pot … read more

Types: Sweet, Acid, Duke, Mazzard: Acid cherries are the fruit of Prunus cerasus - thought to be a naturally occurring hybrid between two other Prunus species, which has then been selected and bred fr … read more

Without doubt, pruning fruit trees is the most common area people struggle with when growing fruit trees. Pollination, however, comes a very close second. I think it is because there is a little sci … read more

Damsons, and their close relative, the little known bullace, are a godsend to the gardener who wants to grow fruit in an unfavourable location. Live in a cold area - no problem, these trees are bone … read more

You probably envisage a bucolic scene of rolling pasture, with rows of huge Bramley apple trees dripping with fruit. Or perhaps part of a country estate, ancient trees pruned by generations of Head … read more

The first key point to remember – all stone fruit should be pruned during the summer. This is done to avoid serious diseases such as silver leaf and bacterial canker, which can prove fatal. Silver l … read more