Pruning:How To Prune Apple Trees Between Autumn And Spring

Not much might be shifting in the gardens, but now is the time for pruning. Gill Franklin of Cross Lanes Fruit Farm is offering half day pruning courses on the following dates:

• Saturday 31 January
• Thursday 5 February
• Saturday 14 February

The sessions start at 9.45 and run until 1 and are for a group of up to 20. Gill covers all of the basics for fruit tree care, including diseases and pruning. The cost is £46 including VAT.  Thanks to the generosity of the Chilterns Conservation Board we may be able to pay your course fees if you are a paid up member of the orchard.

Email David Woodward now for further details.

After an excellent 2008, 2009 promises to be a good year for Dunsden Community Orchard. A working party is planned for late winter (by which time the bitter cold should be a distant memory). Replacement trees will be planted and general maintenance undertaken. Also in 2009, we hope to make progress with new entrance gates, and with getting a new yew tree hedge established on the boundary with Dunsden Green.

Who knows, we may even be able to harvest our first ever apples?