How are your apple trees doing in this heat and drought?

[Pqrl0ur]

Mine are awful to the extent I’m wondering about replacing them with crabapples. Both are round 5 years old. They’ve always been challenging. Wondering if my garden just isn’t suited to apples. We’re on clay.

We had a major cut back of other trees that were overshadowing apple and pear trees last year so that this year they have had a lot more light. At the moment, we are looking to get our best crop of fruit for years and years, although I think they will be quite small fruits.

Same.

Maybe we should switch to figs and olives if this is the new normal!

Yes I think the weather has made birds more of a pest. I managed to pick all the redcurrants and green gooseberries in time but (I assume) the birds took the blackcurrants and red gooseberries in a couple of days. Already started to peck the maggoty apples.

It's looking to be a smaller crop with small fruit. We have a large number of trees, around 70 all told. Apples, pears, plums, cherries, gages, mirabelles and a peach.

We use the apples and pears mainly for cider making. Last year's topped out at around 7% alcohol (previous years was more like 4%). This year looks like another low yield but fingers crossed for good sugar levels.

My old Pippin (came with the house) produced a huge number of tiny fruit last year (is that what a mast year is?). It always crops early (apples ready end August) and had a fair amount of blossom this year. No June drop to speak of, no thinning needed, I’ve just picked about 1.5 kg of fruit and may get about the same again soon I think - much less than usual, but not nothing. Clay soil, I’ve been chucking a bucket of water around the trunk every few days.