Trees do a lot of their growing in spring and early summer, so it’s important they get a good start. At first they use the energy they stored in their tissues last season, but as their roots develop and grow, they are soon relying on the nutri [...]

Maintenance pruning of mature trees to control the height and shape of the tree, and encourage it to produce fruit and wood in all the right places! In this article we cover the maintenance pruning of all the types of fruit trees you normally [...]

Learning how frost affects your property can help you plan the best place to site fruit trees, and increase the amount of fruit you harvest. In this article we guide you in making a frost plan of your property. Read the article in Winter - Wee [...]

Most pest issues resolve by themselves over time as you increase the biodiversity in your garden, and insecticides should always be the instrument of last resort when it comes to pest control. There are times when you need to use them, for exa [...]

Learn how to identify Bacterial Spot and write a prevention and management plan that includes monitoring, pruning, and planning. Find the activity in Autumn - Week 11.

Bare soil is the enemy of the organic gardener, and nature will immediately fill the vacuum with any plant that will grow there, in an attempt to heal the soil—and these are the plants we often call ‘weeds’. So, if you’ve just planted a fruit [...]

Also known as small-flowered mallow, cheeseweed mallow, little mallow. Marshmallow is an indicator of disturbed soil, often with high nitrogen content, and is commonly seen on roadsides and watercourses, but particularly where animals have con [...]

Recycling fallen fruit, prunings, and other garden ‘waste’ back into the soil is part of a healthy nutrient cycle in an organic garden, but needs to be done in such a way as to reduce the chance of spreading disease. This week we show you how [...]

One of the key strategies for helping your fruit trees to be resilient (and still grow a good crop) in low water conditionsis the water-holding capacity of your soil—interestingly, this also helps your trees cope better with too much water and [...]

Also called Variegated thistle, Cabbage thistle, Gundagai thistle, Lady’s thistle, Marian thistle, Saint Mary’s thistle. Milk thistle is in the family Asteracea, and is native from Southern Europe through to Asia, but is now found throughout t [...]

Getting into the habit of using your Fruit Tree Diary will increase your awareness of seasonal changes and triggers, help you get to know your trees, and ultimately make you a better fruit grower! This week it’s time to get ready to monitor an [...]

Monitoring your fruit trees regularly is one of your best tools in the fight against pests and diseases, as it helps you respond quickly before a problem has got out of control. Weekly visits throughout spring, summer and autumn help you get t [...]