Knowledge Base

“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty.”  Theodore Roosevelt.Pears have a reputation for being difficult. They need a warm, sheltered … 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 … read more

“Well-drained but moisture retentive soil, sheltered position in full sun”. The Shangri-La of gardening. A mythical utopia where any plant will flourish. How many times have we read about a fruit t … 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 f … read more

In Part One of our guide, we looked at some of the general considerations of choosing apple varieties, along with a few favourite eaters. Time to widen the net and offer up some more suggestions … read more

Choosing a new apple tree can be a daunting experience. There are just so many to choose from! There are over 2000 varieties in the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale in Kent, and whilst many of … 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

Maiden:A one year old tree - normally a straight stick approx. 90-100cm tall. This is the basic building block, suitable for growing on into a wide range of shapes and sizes (depending on the rootstoc … 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

Browse through our website and there is a bewildering choice on offer. There are over 5,000 named varieties of apple recorded in the UK, and although the vast majority are not available commercially … read more

If you were asked to name 5 varieties of cooking apple, the chances are that you would come up with ‘Bramley’ straight away... and then possibly struggle. However if you asked the same question a hu … read more

For many of us who strive to ‘grow our own’, the beauty of a plant often takes a back seat to usefulness. We care less about what a tree looks like, instead obsessing over flavour, cooking qualities … read more

In the first part – Beginner's Guide - Part 1 - we looked at how or choose the right fruit for you, and also had a look at pollination groups. Now we delve a little deeper into the knowledge yo … read more

For many people, their working life has been substantially altered in the past few years and the large increase in people working from home has led to many reconnecting with their gardens and outsi … 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