The Orchard

A collection of 54 posts

Monthly gardening advice

September Fruit Tree To-do List

The story of your fruit harvest starts now - in the rising of the sap and the swelling of the buds. It's a tale told by the bees, as they go blossom to blossom; then taken up by a fruit that evades rats, possums, wind and rain. It&

Monthly gardening advice

August Fruit Tree to-do List

August is your last chance to check in on tree vigour! How well did each of you fruit trees grow last season? Read all about it here, and use the info to decide whether or not you need to apply compost and mulch. If there is one job you sort

Berries

July's Fruit Tree To-Do List

July is busy old month in the orchard calendar – we’re planting, pruning and most important of all, assessing new growth to decide whether or not to add compost. Plant Winter is your once-a-year opportunity - seize the day to plant deciduous trees in their preferred moment, to plant shelter,

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How To Mulch Fruit Trees

Fruit trees, on the whole, do best with a living mulch, which is simply a covering of plants as in the photo above (yes that includes grass and weeds!) A living mulch is not only super fertile, but its loads easier for you too - read more about it here.

Monthly gardening advice

June's Fruit Tree To-Do List

Planting, mulching and pruning - that's the order of events this month. Planting is by far the most important! Plant fruit trees Yippee do - deciduous fruit tree/ berry and vine planting time is upon us. I hope in all the excitement of new trees, you have the

Monthly gardening advice

May Fruit Tree To Do List

May is the month to get prep'd for new fruit trees + shelter trees . A little bit of tree research goes such a long way! As does my favourite stake + marinate, an easy, hands on way of working out what fruit tree goes where before ordering your trees in.

Monthly gardening advice

April Fruit Tree To Do List

This month is all about caring for citrus, preparing deciduous fruit trees for winter, planning for new fruit/nut or shelter trees, and harvesting nuts. Citrus Care Young developing fruits alert you to pay attention. The adult crop relies on actions taken now: good moisture, thinning, mulching and at this

Monthly gardening advice

March Fruit Tree To Do List

Young trees need to be at the fore front throughout summer. This month, take stock of yours. If the soil beneath is dry, water them back to barely moist, then scatter some nicely pre decomposed woody mulch about them. * Long grass surrounding them is awesome protection from wind and sun

Harvest

February Fruit Tree To Do List

Fruit trees are peaking! I hope the grass and herbal ley are thigh high and you're revelling in surround sound fruit - late plums, pears, apples and oh so peachy. A sight for sore eyes! As stone fruit are harvested, summer prune them. They're best pruned

Monthly gardening advice

November Fruit Tree To Do List

November is when the summer fruits really get a roll on - grapes, currants, early plums and berries are forming revealing the harvest to come. Keep an eye on these new fruits because birds + pests will be just as aware! Your daily walk is essential if you want to keep

Harvest

October Fruit Tree To Do List

Loads to do in your food garden - both the vegie garden and fruit trees need you this month! Plan the weekends at home and get the family on board to work up a storm. It'll set you up for a productive, healthy season ahead. All of Septembers

Pruning

A Spring Prune for Plums + Peaches

Stone fruit are naturally spreading trees, so for best shape and health – let them reach and spread as much as is practical, that being said if you've pruned hard in the past and ended up with loads of tall shoots, spring is an excellent time to tie them

Berries

How To Grow Raspberries

Awesome crops of awesome raspberries begins with a good setup, and so today I'm focusing you in on getting the basics sorted first: choosing a good location + a good variety. With this well sorted, their care is easy i.e. less pests and disease + better crops. From there

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Pruning 101: Thinning Cuts + Heading Cuts

Understanding the difference between thinning cuts and heading cuts will transform your pruning life. What a difference to the productivity and health of your fruit trees when you give up heading and get thinning! Heading A heading cut, also referred to as 'heading back', is a cut that

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How To Prune Feijoas

Excerpt from my little pruning book " Pruning Fruit Trees: A Beginners Guide" If you prune your feijoa annually - you'll find there's not much to do. A lovely, feet on the ground job. I like to prune my feijoa's right after harvest.

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How To Store Apples

A store of eating apples to draw on through Autumn and Winter is deeply satisfying, and the best kai of all - an apple as nature intended! Storing is, however, really tricky for home gardeners. The perfect long term storage (consistently cool, 90% humidity, off grid and rodent proof) is

Monthly gardening advice

How to Summer Prune Stonefruit

Plums, Apricots, Peaches, Nectarines, Almonds and Cherries are all stonefruit and best pruned in summer when they finish fruiting. There's a few good reasons to prune them now rather than winter.

Pruning

5 Golden Pruning Rules

Hold light at the fore front as you prune. Light inspires fresh new shoots, ripens fruits, and where light shines – air flows, which is just what the doctor ordered for best health. Let light be your guide, along with a gentle hand and all will be well. Less is More

Monthly gardening advice

When + How to Feed Citrus

Citrus need 2 feeds: one mid spring - when soils have warmed, and one mid summer. The last, mid summer/ January feed is really important for young trees, to inspire strong growth while its warm, boosting them to be a little bigger and bolder before they take on winter. Natural

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Biological Fungicides

Cankers, oozing sap, fruit scab, fruit rot, leaf spots or leaf curl, and are all signs that pathogenic fungi/ bacteria are out competing beneficial fungi/ bacteria, on your fruit trees. It's a numbers game. Simple as that. Whoever owns the space, rules the day. Your job is to

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How (+ When) to Prune Citrus

Citrus are my favourite trees to prune. Especially thick, thorny, over grown ones - they restore so quickly and beautifully when you use mainly thinning cuts. What a difference when you give up heading cuts and get thinning! Because citrus fruit on new seasons wood, this style of pruning keeps

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Notching: A Cool Pruning Trick

Notching is a simple, old school trick that stimulates a branch to grow. Use it while training young (2 - 4 year old), deciduous fruit trees to fill any empty spaces that would ideally, be fruitfully filled with a branch. * Choose a lovely fat bud in the locale of the

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How to Choose Your Fruit Trees Well

Your goal, in choosing your fruit trees, is to match them to your environment - both the rootstock (bottom) and scion (tops). When well matched, your trees thrive with very little inputs from you - easy orcharding awaits! To do this well, you need to understand: 1. your environment, including

Monthly gardening advice

How to Plant + Prune Deciduous Fruit Trees

Fruit trees perform better by far when grown in native soil - ie soil that's original to your site. Deciduous fruit trees don't need compost + fert around their roots - the original soil is perfect especially if you've matched your rootstocks to it. What

Featured

Make a Frost Shelter for Young Citrus + Avo's

Autumn is the time of year to think about tucking your young citrus and tender subtropicals (eg: tamarillo, banana, passionfruit + avocado) in a cosy house to protect them from the bitter cold of winter and spring. Where night temps drop below 10 °C for extended periods of time, I'