Sawmill summer prune and general maintenance - 4 Aug 2024

A good day's work pruning, tying-in and weeding in the orchard

A group of enthusiastic members proved the saying "many hands make light work" today at the Sawmill orchard in Hutton in the Forest. Chris Braithwaite provided expert guidance on summer pruning and tying-in. A lot of weeds were removed, leaving the site looking much tidier, and the trees well cared for. Thanks to everyone who assisted.

The orchard continues to develop well. We have over 100 different varieties of apples, mostly growing as cordons. A number of these were more mature cordons moved from Newton Rigg when it closed: these are already full height and bearing fruit but had been rather neglected prior to their relocation to Sawmill and need corrective pruning. The other cordons are much younger and in the growing phase rather than fruit-bearing yet.

It was noted that there was a lot of scab present, particularly on the more mature trees. This seems to be a widespred problem this year with many of the members present reporting that their trees were also suffering.