My fruit trees

The weather so far this year has been surprisingly poor. We’ve had one or two nice days but they’ve been the exception because even when the sun has been out it’s been accompanied day after day by a chilly northerly breeze. We had a glorious day yesterday, like being on holiday back in the day except every day here is like being on holiday 🙂 But there was something special about it. Beautiful sunshine, everything all perfect, green and lush but for the moment, no tourists. Usually by now we’re beginning to see swarms of Dutch visitors arriving. Spring is when the cranes fly north and the Dutch head south, but there are very few of them at the moment which is quite surprising and a bit unusual.

I’ve been out checking my fruit trees. I bought my first ‘fruitiers’, two cherries, three years ago from an on-line supplier and was disappointed as soon as I saw them. They were small and puny and not what I expected at all. I already had two plums that I’d received as birthday gifts the year before but they had a very bad start as they were stored for several months before being transferred from their pots to my back garden. None of these initial four trees did any good and I ended up chucking three of them away last year, the two plums and one of the cherries, when I bought three more cherries, two apples and a plum from another supplier. The new trees were infinitely superior and have done incredibly well since I transplanted them from the pots in which they were delivered. They cost a bit more than the first ones I bought but they are in a different league compared to those from the first supplier and the extra was well worth the difference.

Even though it was still small and spindly, I took pity on one of the original cherries that I bought from the first supplier because it looked as though it might stand a chance even though it will probably never be of any size or provide much fruit during my lifetime. I moved it, however, to a less prominent position so it could make way for one of the new trees. I half expected it not to survive the move but it has done and after producing blossom early on it looks as though it’ll produce a tiny amount of fruit. It and the new cherries were covered in blossom but all have surprisingly little fruit to show for it. Unsurprisingly perhaps for the new ones as this is their first year after being put in only last year.

In fact, given how puny the remaining original cherry was and that it was also dug up and moved last year, it has not only added some good growth but also done comparatively better fruit-wise than the two new ones. Here are a few shots of it.

In comparison, the three new cherries, which were of two different varieties, have put on some good growth but despite showing quite a bit of blossom early on, have very little by way of fruit to show for it. Here are some shots of the first of them.

The second – hardly any fruit at all.

And the third.

Compared to the cherries, the new plum has done incredibly well. Not only has it put on some good growth but it’s also showing a fair amount of fruit considering this is it’s first year after being transplanted. Here are the pics of it.

As they will ripen much later then the cherries, it’s a bit too early to judge how the new apples will do. Both have put on growth and currently have plenty of fruit, especially considering how relatively small they are, but there’s no guarantee that it will all set. My favourite one that was severely damaged last year by a deer that ripped off one of its branches the day before I put protection around all my new trees, has lots of tiny fruit but I was dismayed to find that it’s smothered with aphids and ants which are presumably farming them for their nectar, which is what I think they do. I’ve sprayed the tree’s foliage twice with soapy water but I’ve ordered some Neem oil and I’ll be giving it a good coat of it before I leave again shortly for Istanbul. I’ll then have to continue the treatment when I get back.

Here are some shots of the first apple that’s unaffected by aphids.

And here are some shots if the tree with the aphids.

These are very early days and it’s far too soon to anticipate how much fruit all of my trees will deliver this year. I don’t expect much as this is the first year for all of them after being transplanted and they need to get their feet into the ground. They and all of us could also do with a bit of good weather 😕