Ben Pike is an orchard consultant and writer, and is head gardener on the Sharpham Estate in Devon, where he looks after the walled fruit and vegetable garden as well as two orchards containing 150 fruit trees. In his spare time he helps to run Orchard Link, an organisation that supports orchard owners and the preservation of old orchards. There is nothing he loves more at weekends than to run old apple presses.
Introduction
PART ONE: Preparation, planning and planting
The site of your orchard
Rootstocks
Pollination, flowering and fruit development
Choosing fruit trees
Planning your orchard
Buying and planting trees
PART TWO: Fruit tree management
Caring for your trees
Pruning fruit trees
Problems of fruit trees
PART THREE: The fruits
Apples
Pears
Plums
Cherries
Peaches and nectarines
Apricots
Other fruits
PART FOUR: Traditional orchards
Restoring a neglected orchard
Community orchards
Glossary
Appendices
Resources
