Amateur Gardening – 20 July 2019

14 AMATEUR GARDENING 20 JULY 2019

Chop or change

W

OULDN’T you love to have

bigger, sweeter apple and

pear fruits this harvest,

and again next year, all for

little extra effort? If so, you need to try

summer pruning. Many of us think of

pruning as an autumn and winter

affair, and never consider

pruning now. After all, this

year’s crop is still ripening.

Yet counter-intuitively,

pruning now helps

these crops do better.

All you do is trim

off the ends of most

of the young shoots,

which checks trees and

redirects their resources.

The trees receive about the

same amount of sunlight, as this

now falls on leaves that were previously

shaded, and the removed growths are

no longer consuming sap. As a result,

this year’s fruits get more sap, and swell

It may sound like the wrong thing to do, but summer

pruning will improve apple and pear harvests, says Bob

“Instead of masses

of new shoots, you

get more fl owers”

and sweeten more – and they will

become even better if you perform

another thinning at the same time.

This check also alters the way the

new buds that are forming develop.

Before, many would have become

growth buds to produce more

shoots, but summer pruning

converts these to become

flower and thus fruit buds

instead. So next year,

instead of masses of

new shoots, you get

more flowers and

far fewer shoots.

On the other

hand, winter pruning

encourages growth and

growth buds, so is perfect

for the first years while the

tree’s shape is formed. It’s also good for

reinvigorating an old tired tree, because

it stimulates growth. However, if you prune

right now instead, you will then get more

fruits instead of more growth.

Thus, summer pruning is much better

for maintaining trees once their shape

has been formed. Fortunately, you don’t

even have to be precise. You can use a

pair of shears to quickly cut back all the

young shoots, as these stick the furthest

away from the branches. Chop off each

by about half, and the job’s done!

1

At end of barbecues, bake

meat bones on the last of the

coals and, once cool, powder

these down to ashes and then

add them to the compost.

Body image: TI Media. All other photography Alamy, unless credited

Bob’s top tips

for the week

with Bob Flowerdew, AG’s organic gardening expert

2

Sow Chinese greens and

mustards such as pak choi in

small weekly batches for stir-fry

greens from autumn into winter.

3

Save seedheads, especially

of grasses and sunflowers,

to put out for the birds to eat

later in winter.

4

Get Japanese onion seed

ready for its sowing window

in three weeks’ time, as by then

it may be sold out.

If you want more and bigger apples

this year, the time to prune is now!

Inset: TI Media

Chop or change

Inset: TI Media

pruning as an autumn and winter

affair, and never consider

pruning now. After all, this

year’s crop is still ripening.

redirects their resources.

The trees receive about the

same amount of sunlight, as this

growth buds to produce more

shoots, but summer pruning

converts these to become

flower and thus fruit buds

instead. So next year,

instead of masses of

new shoots, you get

more flowers and

far fewer shoots.

hand, winter pruning

encourages growth and

growth buds, so is perfect

for the first years while the

Winter pruning is great

for the fi rst years

Trim off the ends of young

shoots, and this year’s fruit

will swell and sweeten more