Grafting has been practised for hundreds (if not thousands) of years, and is the method by which all our known heritage varieties of fruit have been preserved through the generations. Modern grafting techniques rely both on refrigeration (to k [...]

There are lots of good reasons for grafting fruit trees: to change varieties, preserve a heritage or familiar variety or to add a polliniser to a tree that flowers well but doesn’t produce much fruit. This week we look at reasons for grafting, [...]

Grasshoppers and locusts are members of the insect order Orthoptera, and have chewing mouth parts and strong hind legs for jumping. They can be a pest of young fruit trees, and can damage so many leaves by chewing them that the tree stops phot [...]

Mullein is also called Aaron’s rod, blanket weed, lamb’s tongue, flannel leaf, feltwort, velvet dock, white mullein, nappy weed, woollen rag paper, torches, candlewick or Jacob’s torch. It is thought by many to be a very attractive plant, and [...]

Green manures are crops grown to improve the soil condition and nutrition. They can help crowd out the weeds you don’t want, and some even get rid of soil diseases. Instead of being harvested, the crop is dug into the soil while still lush and [...]

Budding can be used to convert an existing fruit tree to a new variety, fix pollination problems by adding a pollinising branch to a tree, create a multigraft (or ‘fruit salad’) tree, ‘fix’ a grafted tree that has died back to the rootstock, o [...]

Grafting your own fruit trees is a great way to change varieties in your garden, preserve a heritage variety, or add a polliniser to a tree that flowers well, but doesn’t produce much fruit. In this article we get down to the nitty-gritty with [...]

Trying to grow fruit in dry conditions presents some particular challenges, but is by no means impossible. After enduring a 10 year drought at our farm, we’ve learnt a few techniques that can make all the difference between watching your trees [...]

Growing your own fruit trees from seed is easy, cheap and nearly always successful, and now is the time of year to be collecting apple and pear seeds and storing them over winter, to start your new trees next spring. Given the right conditions [...]

With fruit trees going up in price every year, growing your own fruit trees from scratch becomes an attractive option, especially when you realise how easy it is. Autumn is the time to be planning where you’ll get the rootstocks that you can l [...]

If you’re growing your own fruit trees from scratch, a lot happens in spring, and it’s worth paying attention! To help you keep track of all the different aspects of your rootstock and grafting care, we’ve summarised spring’s jobs. Read the ar [...]

When you’re growing your own peach trees from seed at home, the truth is it doesn’t really matter what variety of peach you use as a source of seed—whatever variety you have will do! Some varieties will grow a great rootstock, some not so good [...]