In The Fruit Garden This July

Here are the top tips for your fruit garden in July — a crucial month for harvesting, pruning, and planning ahead: 

🍓 Harvesting 

Pick fruit regularly: 

• Raspberries, strawberries, currants, gooseberries, cherries, and early plums 

• Keep harvesting to encourage further cropping and prevent overripening 

• Harvest in the morning for best flavour and freshness 

✂️ Pruning and Training 

• Summer prune trained apples and pears (espaliers, cordons, fans)

• Shorten side shoots to about 3 leaves from the base to improve light and fruiting next year 

• Tie in new shoots of trained fruits like blackberries, raspberries, and loganberries 

• Remove runners from strawberries unless you want to propagate new plants 

🌿 General Care 

• Water during dry spells: Especially for young or container-grown plants 

• Mulch fruit bushes and trees: Helps conserve moisture and suppress weeds 

• Feed crops: Use a potassium-rich feed (like tomato feed) for fruiting plants 

🐛 Pest and Disease Control 

• Net soft fruit: To protect from birds 

• Watch for wasps: Especially around ripening plums and berries 

• Check for pests like aphids, red spider mites, and codling moth (trap if needed) 

🍎 Fruit Tree Maintenance 

• Thin apples and pears: Leave one or two fruits per cluster to improve quality and reduce strain 

• Inspect fruit for damage or disease and remove affected ones promptly 

🌱 Planting and Propagation 

• Tip-layer blackberries and hybrid berries for propagation 

• Take cuttings of currants and gooseberries towards the end of July 

• Strawberry propagation: Peg down healthy runners if you’re renewing your bed for next year