Harriet Coles
Start with a Slow Walk Around Your Trees
Before you reach for the secateurs, take a quiet tour of your orchard. Early spring is a generous time for observation: the sap is beginning to rise, buds are swelling, and any winter damage is easier to spot against bare branches. Look at each tree in turn. Are there broken limbs from winter gales? Patches of missing bark? Mushrooms or brackets on the trunk? Soggy, waterlogged ground around the roots? Make a mental note — or a written one — of what needs attention. This slow inspection will guide everything else you do this month.
Pruning: Know What to Cut and When
Pruning is the headline job in early spring, but timing matters as much as technique. In the UK, the safest window for most fruit trees is late February to early March, while the tree is still dormant but the worst frosts have passed. Never prune when the wood is frozen or when rain is forecast for the next few days — fresh cuts need dry air to heal.
- Apples and pears: These are spur-bearing trees and respond well to early spring pruning. Aim for an open, goblet-shaped framework. Remove dead, diseased or crossing branches first. Then shorten last year's growth by about a third, cutting back to an outward-facing bud at a slight angle.
- Plums, cherries, apricots and peaches: Stone fruits are different. Pruning them now risks silver leaf disease, so leave them until mid-summer unless a branch is broken. If you must cut a damaged limb, seal the wound with a proprietary pruning paste.
- Trained trees: Cordons, espaliers and fans need their summer-pruned spurs tidied now. Remove any shoots that have broken the training pattern and tie in new growth as it appears.
Always use sharp, clean tools. A bypass pruner for thin branches, a pruning saw for anything thicker than a thumb. Wipe blades with methylated spirits between trees to avoid spreading disease.
Mulch, Feed and Protect the Root Zone
Fruit trees are hungry in spring, but they feed shallowly. A generous mulch of well-rotted manure or garden compost does three jobs: it suppresses weeds, conserves moisture and releases nutrients slowly as the soil warms. Spread a layer 5–7cm deep over the root zone, extending to the drip line — the outer edge of the branches. Keep the mulch well clear of the trunk, leaving a 10cm gap, so the bark doesn't soften and rot.
If your soil is poor, add a handful of blood, fish and bone per square metre before mulching. For established trees in good ground, the mulch alone is usually enough. Avoid high-nitrogen fertilisers, which push soft, sappy growth that aphids love and frost can damage.
Check Ties, Stakes, Guards and Trunk Health
Winter wind and frost can loosen, snap or strangle the hardware that keeps young trees safe. Spend half an hour checking every tree that has a stake or guard.
- Ties: They should be snug but not tight. You should be able to slip a finger between the tie and the trunk. Replace any that have rubbed the bark or gone brittle.
- Stakes: Push them back in firmly. A loose stake is worse than none, because it rubs the roots and trunk. For trees planted more than three years ago, consider removing the stake altogether if the rootball is firm.
- Guards: Rabbit and deer guards should be secure at the base but not buried, and tall enough to protect new growth. Remove any that are cutting into the trunk.
- Trunks: Brush off loose bark and look for canker — sunken, dead patches that ooze in wet weather. Prune out infected wood to healthy tissue, sterilising your tools afterwards.
Early Spring in the Wildflower Meadow
If your orchard floor is a wildflower meadow, this is a delicate moment. The goal is to give delicate perennials room to grow without smothering them. If you left the meadow standing over winter — which is excellent for seed heads and insect shelter — cut it now, before new growth emerges. Use a scythe, strimmer or mower on its highest setting. Rake off all cuttings, because leaving them enriches the soil and encourages coarse grasses at the expense of wildflowers.
- Do not feed the meadow. Wildflowers thrive on poor soil. No compost, no fertiliser.
- Spot-weed carefully. Dig out docks, thistles and nettles by hand before they set seed. Avoid herbicides near fruit trees.
- Keep a clear ring around young trees. Grass and weeds compete fiercely for water and nutrients. Maintain a 60cm weed-free circle around each trunk, mulched as above.
- Sow yellow rattle in autumn, not now. This parasitic annual weakens grasses and helps flowers. Early spring is too late for sowing, but you can plan ahead.
Pest and Disease Patrol
Early spring is your best chance to break pest cycles before they begin. Overwintering eggs, larvae and fungal spores are still concentrated and easy to find. Take a torch and a small brush on your rounds.
- Grease bands: If you applied them in autumn to stop winter moths, remove them by mid-spring. Leaving them on can trap beneficial insects and damage bark.
- Scale and aphids: Look for small brown bumps on twigs (scale) and clusters of eggs near buds (aphids). Scrub them off with a stiff brush or a cloth dipped in soapy water.
- Canker and dieback: Cut out infected branches 15cm below the visible damage. Burn or bin the prunings — do not compost them.
- Codling moth: Check under loose bark and in crevices for overwintering larvae. A piece of corrugated cardboard tied around the trunk can act as a trap; remove and destroy it in late spring.
With these jobs done, your orchard will meet the growing season in good heart. The reward comes later — blossom, fruit and a meadow humming with life — but it starts now, with cold hands and a sharp pair of secateurs.
