In The Fruit Garden This September

Pick blackberries as they ripen and use straight away or freeze some for use later on.

Tidy up your strawberry plants and clear away and used straw, as this will harbour pests and diseases over winter.

Pot up strawberry runners to make extra plants for next year.

Pick off rotting fruits from pear, apple and stone fruit trees, they will spread disease if left on the tree.

Cover wall-trained peach trees to prevent peach leaf curl from taking hold. The fungus needs wet conditions to infect the plants.

Harvest plums. If you have more than you need, freeze them by washing, halving and stoning them, before laying them out on a tray in the freezer. Once frozen, pack them into freezer bags.

Take hardwood cutting of currants, gooseberries and figs to increase your stock.

Mow long grass under fruit trees to make it easier to spot windfall fruits.

If you haven’t already, cut back the fruit canes of your summer raspberries, leaving the new green canes for next year’s crop. Tie in next year’s raspberry canes to support wires or fencing.

Top Tip:

Pick ripe apples. To test when they’re ripe, gently lift them in the palm of you hand or give them a gentle pull, they should comme away easily.