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appletrees.Òrg.uk

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I am Julian Brandram, and this website is about my work. My knowledge and experience can be made available to help you. I have a degree in agricultural botany and many years' experience of growing fruit in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and the surrounding area. I can supply a range of fruit trees and soft fruit (see my on-line catalogue) and can advise on the varieties best suited to your locality.

I am available to work for individuals or groups. I offer a comprehensive range of fruit-growing-related services, as follows.

• Orchard advisory visits - Help with problems or advice on what further work may be required or what to plant. Orchard reports.
• Fruit-tree planting - I will supply and plant trees for you so you can be confident that they will have a good start in life.
• Pruning - Correct pruning is important for ensuring healthy tree growth and good cropping. Most pruning takes place while the trees are dormant in the winter months.
• Orchard management - I will supply management plans or designs for successful orchards, for you to put into practice yourself, or can undertake practical management, described under the other headings here.
• Repropagation of dying trees - Trees which are "on their last legs" can often be repropagated to produce new replacement trees.

• Apple Day - A celebration of traditional varieties, held on or around 21st October. Book me to make your Apple Day a real success. A large range of traditional apples is available for display and tasting, with advice on choice of variety, cultivation, pruning, etc., and a display of information and photographs. An apple press, which is very popular with children, is used to juice windfalls.
• Work with community groups - Workshops on propagating, local varieties, planting, community orchards, pruning, etc. I have extensive teaching experience and excellent rapport with students. I can arrange one-off workshops or provide project management for groups to produce their own trees or plant a community orchard.
• Garden advisory visits - Not sure what to plant in your garden or how to manage existing plants? Book a visit and get some professional advice delivered in a "down to earth" way!

Planting your new tree

Dig a hole 2-3 feet across and about 18 inches deep. Plant the tree in this, in a mixture of 50% well-rotted manure or good garden compost and 50% soil that you took out.

Firm the tree well in.

A stake will not be needed unless you are in a windy place. If you do have to use a stake, secure the tree to it with a proper tree tie and make sure that the tree does not rub on the stake.

Do not allow grass to grow around the base of the tree. Mulch it with wood chip or old carpet, to prevent the ground drying out.

Pruning

Apples and pears need to be pruned on planting.

Maidens (i.e. one-year-old trees) should have the tips removed, to encourage them to bush out.

Two-year-old trees should have the side branches cut back by a half to a third, to an outward-facing bud.

For more information consult any book published by the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society).