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, it's the apples and pears that have been the subject of my attentions. As we know, apple trees blossom picturesquely in spring. These flowers then develop into small fruits and then, in June, the tree shrugs and loses a fair few of these (this

Tying in climbers, tall perennials and trained shrubs and fruit bushes needs to be done when the stems are soft and pliable. When shoots are growing quickly in spring and summer, they may have to be tied in to their support once a week. Take care

to start early because although there is now a tremendous crop on some of the Prunus spinosa that we planted shortly after we moved here (the excuse was that it is of course, a great native hedging plant!).Those by the footpath will be cleared of all fruit

'Gardener's Delight' or any one of my favourite reliable performers instead.The crop looked quite reasonable, as my picture shows, but the fruits really didn't have much flavour. They developed to a pale yellow colour rather than white, which does make

we first started out. The raised beds and wood chip paths were a lot of effort at the time, but they were worth it. The fruit bushes and raspberry canes were a bit of a slog too - raspberries need such a well prepared trench to flourish, and I

, brought into the warm and protected environment of my greenhouse to ripen in time for Wimbledon. When I came to harvest them, bowl in hand, the fruits were gone.Now it's the blackberries, which are just starting to ripen and will hopefully provide rich

'Hundreds and Thousands', and I was lucky enough to be given a trial pack of seeds. It's a funny variety, with low-growing plants covered with numerous marble-sized fruits. I grew one plant unsuccessfully in the greenhouse and many very successfully

as their root systems aren't that big. The same applies to seedlings, but for lots of plants it's also essential to water them when they're in flower and early fruit set, as this helps to increase the size of your crop. Potatoes, beans and peas and most fruits

to my tomatoes, which I grew at home in an attempt to keep them clear of the dreaded tomato blight. No chance! They've succumbed to the horrible fungus yet again. What's worse is that the fruits on 'Marmande' were looking so lovely and swelling so

was a child. Like this plum, the trunk had a great rotting hole in it, with soft wood crumbling at its heart, but branches carried healthy leaves and fabulous fruits. Woodlice can often be found among rotting leaf litter and in dark, dank parts