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 Bob Magnus's Articles
As Bob makes way for the next generation to take over and learn the apple tree business, he's made available some of his articles drawn from his many years of experience in this field. Please check back for more articles as he writes them.
| Cross Pollination. From the amount of inquiries I receive about cross pollination I’m convinced that this is a very misunderstood part of apple culture.... read more |
| Spanish Bush. ...the “Spanish Bush” training method originated. This is a training method in which the vigour of the tree is spread over many branches rather than a main trunk, and the aim is to produce... read more |
| Price differential in apples or how the apple business works (or doesn’t). Humans have long ago worked out how to produce apples very efficiently. So much so that we can produce as many apples per hectare as potatoes.... read more |
| What are dwarf apple trees?
Why do we grow them?
How do we have a prolific orchard? ..small growing trees are very precocious starting to bear fruit usually in their second year (if you grow them well that is). They are easier to... read more |
| Dwarf Pear Trees. We grow pears in dwarfing forms for the same reasons we grow other types of dwarfed trees: small trees are much more precocious... read more |
| Espaliering Made Even Easier - the knee-navel-nipple-nose system of growing apples. ...
The 4 afore-mentioned body parts i.e. knee, navel, nipple and nose refer simply to the heights of the 4 wires used in this espalier system (disappointed? I hope not).... read more |
| Espaliering Made Easy. This article describes our previous version of espaliering. .....
This system firstly depends on growing small trees on wires, known as espaliering. When you mention espaliers to just about any intending fruit growers, they look at you in stunned disbelief... read more |
| Pruning - why we do it. This chap did say something interesting though and that was: his family said - “don’t prune the trees, just let them grow as nature intended them to grow” - and I thought - this is a great starting point: the first of many misconceptions about gardening is that it’s “natural”. read more |
| Summer Pruning. These shoots, depending on the vigour of the tree can grow up to 1m in a season - summer pruning, in essence, is cutting these shoots back to a stub of about 2-3 buds. This prevents them from spoiling the trained shape.... read more |
| Pruning - the Grape story. In order to produce grapes we resort to very “un - natural” techniques. If left to their own device grapes being natural climbers weave their way up through trees make lots of shoots and leaves and a few miserable bunches of fruit that birds just love to eat. read more |
| Hazelnuts. Hazels are self-sterile and can’t pollinate themselves. You need complimentary varieties for good pollination and fruit set. That’s why we sell them in packs of 4 or so varieties. There are many people out there who contact me about their old hazel bushes that flower prolifically bit never set a crop. read more |
| Receiving Your Trees. When you receive your young trees, it’s a good idea to stand them in a bucket of water overnight. If you’re not ready to plant them you can... read more |
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Fruit Trees
