April in the Orchard
Welcome to our April newsletter from the orchard.
The cold winds of March have certainly dried things up in the orchards but they have also had the effect of holding everything back.
A good dressing of phosphate and nitrogen will give the trees a boost after their long, cold dormancy and as the soil temperature warms and we experience longer daylight hours there will be a noticeable growth of leaf and hopefully some strong blossom to provide this year’s crop.
Following the clear, sunny, days coupled with northerly winds, we are currently experiencing some ground frosts overnight . No problem to the blossom clusters at this stage as they are still tightly shut and will be for another week or two. Hopefully, the winds will soon change to the South and bring a bit more warmth and insect activity to coincide with full bloom towards the end of the first week of May.
The first mowing in the orchards together with some weed killing has already taken place and we will soon see the effect of this as the weeds wither and die leaving a clean, tidy orchard floor.
