The Grounded Orchardist

Why have my apples dropped on the floor? you may ask. If its around June time it’s probably down to the June drop. You’ll be pleased to know this is normal!

The June drop is the trees way of shedding the fruit it deems unnecessary. This means the tree can put all its energy into the fruit that’s left, making new leaves for photosynthesis to feed your lovely fruit and new growth. Afterall, your fruit tree has had a bit of a rest and now it needs to work hard, it needs all the energy it can get whilst not completely depleting its stores.

Commercially grown fruit has many rules and on the farm we used to wait for the June drop and then (painstakingly…it wasnt my favourite job) hand thin where needed to achieve the first class sized apple, which was 65mm or over.

Last year June drop was “July drop” in Oxfordshire. That totally threw me off. Do you risk it and just start thinning anyway? The tree hadn’t shedded yet so the chance of too much coming off is very strong. I held out but it did set me behind.

On the odd occasion a tree may try and keep everything, be aware that although this could be seen as a good thing…it may not be. Like most living things, fruit trees are there to reproduce. If it holds on to too much it could be an indication the tree is not happy. It seems counterproductive but if the tree is willing to put all its energy into a full crop of fruit it may be about to die or look very poorly later on in the season. I’ve seen many a tree do this, when I first started fruit growing I thought it was a sign of good health and quickly learned it was often the very opposite. I now am wary if I see a tree do this. If you have rows of the same variety it’s easy to tell if you have the odd tree acting very different to the rest. A single tree in the garden is a bit more difficult. That said, don’t give up on it…keep an eye on it. Help the tree by hand thinning to relieve some if the stress and see what happens.

I’m always fascinated that although the trees need a little guidance, they know what they’re doing. I mean how clever to realise it has too much and would be much more efficient and healthier with a little less!