You may notice that one of your fruit trees isn’t producing fruit, which isn’t unusual and could be a result of a myriad of different reasons.
If your tree is very young and hasn’t been in the ground for a couple of years this may be why. With some varieties of trees, you must be extremely patient.
Pollination to produce
Pollination is essential for fruit trees to grow good crops, and with many fruit trees need another different cultivar of the same fruit that flowers at the same time to pollinate their flowers nearby.
You may not have sufficient space to grow several cultivars, but if you live in a built-up area, there may be enough pollination nearby so you can successfully have one fruit tree in your garden.
There are some fruit trees that are self-fertile, meaning insects pollinate their own flowers, leading to fruiting trees. ‘Victoria’ plums and ‘Stella’ cherries are self-fertile and are therefore a great idea for a small garden where you don’t necessarily have room to spare for a multitude of trees.
Feeling fruity
In spring, tie any new shoots down into a horizontal position by bending down the branches to arch them. You can either do this by planting bamboo canes alongside the branch and tying it to the cane or tying the branch to a heavy object like a brick and placing them around the tree to weigh them down.
Another method is to fill glass or plastic bottles with water to weigh down the branches, that way you can add the desired amount of water to make the branches arch at a certain angle or position.
It may not look appealing, but eventually, you will be able to remove the ties and the branches will naturally sit in their new position.
This method, called festooning, simulates the weight of ripening fruit on the branch, which encourages the tree to them set fruit buds over the summer to produce blossom and fruit the following year.
Not only does it help to stimulate more fruit, but it allows the tree to be spread lower to the ground, so it can be harvested easier – meaning the kids can get involved with picking the fruits.
Grown up
This method will work with your apple, pear, plum and cherry trees and has been seen to be an effective method of encouraging fruit to grow.
By festooning and promoting fruit production, there’s less energy for the tree to grow, meaning it will not grow as fast as it would otherwise. However, this could be an effective way of keeping the tree under control rather than letting it get too big for your garden.
Speeding up your fruit production means you will have a fruitful yield in no time at all.
David Domoney is a Chartered Horticulturalist, Broadcaster, and Author. David has worked with a number of the UK’s leading garden retailers as a plant buyer and strategic consultant. With more than 30 years experience, in horticulture, David is as passionate about plants now as he was when he bought his first plant at a village fete.
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