It's near the end of spraying season, they try and do any strong chemical spraying at the beginning of the season. Some sprays takes three weeks before fruit can be picked - some two days. This time of year a fruit juice type trap is used on Drosophila suzukii fly - attacks unripened fruit, whilst fruit flies likes ripe.
Some of the sprayers - knapsacks, for more heavy duty - IDEAL sprayer pneumatic pruner - with multiple nozzles.
Summer pruning for pears and apples are done when terminal buds are ready - then on espaliers they are pruned to two to three spurs.
There are three sheds in the main orchard area - Tools, Dry Store, Big.
Frank P Matthews 'Trees for Life' - biggest supplier in the UK. Ran by Nick Dunn (also part of fruit committee). They like to buy in from source rather than distributors (which might not get the best quality from the same supplier).
They have the only trained Mulberry in the country.
Fruit mound - youngest cultivars (in terms of historical) at the bottom and oldest at the top - Pont du Platt - from 1200s.
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| Photo 1: The fruit mound |
Pear branches in espaliers are raised to stimulate new growth when low in vigour.
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| Photo 2: Pear tree espalier - branches lifted up to try and improve vigour. |
There is a non spray apple orchard section. New perry pear section - with alfalfa/ lucerne green manure around it - lower maintenance.
Helped Emily with National Collection of Rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum, POLYGONACEAE family), taking out diseased, dead, damaged leaves. Using index finger to leverage them clean from the base - not to leave any broken stems as they rot. They mainly suffer from Downy Mildew - no appearance of fungal growth though just spots that appear and 'drop out', and Ramularia fungal disease - which appears as round reddish brown spots. This was probably brought in originally from one of the plants in the collection - now ongoing problems with it - sprayed not so long ago with a plant tonic called FightP, then fed 3:1:1.
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| Photo 3: Rhubarb leaf with downy mildew |
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| Photo 4: Rhubarb with Ramularia disease. |
Did strimming around base of apple trees in main orchard with Gerry, to prepare for growth to be short enough to be sprayed with not glyphosate but ammonium 'glucophosate'? It doesn't translocate but burns the tops of the plants to prevent photosynthesis, killing them in this way.