november-fruit

Gardeners Diary for the month of

NOVEMBER

Fruit

Prune Apple and Pear trees.

Plant new fruit trees and bushes in ground that you prepared earlier.

Inspect posts and stakes to ensure that they are firm and do not collapse in winter winds.

Prune Red/White currants. Cut back leading shoots to 6" above this years new growth and side shoots to leave one bud. This builds up a spur system, which helps, because these plants fruit on spurs of mature branches. Cuttings can also be taken at this time of the year. This is done by taking a hardwood cutting of this seasons growth, approximately 10" long and planted in a trench of sufficient depth to cover all but the top three buds. Make the trench by pushing the spade in its full depth and waggle it backwards and forwards to open the slit. Sharp sand can be put in the slit to improve the drainage. Firm the soil back well to avoid air pockets as the cutting will not root into these.

Now is a suitable time to deal with old or neglected fruit trees. Rather than snipping of a lot of shoots, remove complete branches to open up the centre of the tree to allow more light and air in. Check for signs of canker while doing this and remove any infested branches back to clean wood. Any large wounds like this should be cleaned up with a sharp knife so that there are no jagged edges and treated with wound paint such as Arbrex.

By now most of the leaves will have fallen from the trees and these should be swept up and placed on the compost heap.

Take hardwood cuttings of Blackcurrants but ensure that they are free of viruses such as big bud.

Cut back fruited canes of blackberries and related fruits and tie in new shoots to prevent wind damage.

This is a good time to plant Raspberries, Blackberries, Tayberries and Loganberries. Between now and March is a good time to propagate all these fruits, either by division of the roots or by layering.

Pruning of all trees (with the exception of plum) can be carried out.