Your GARDENING FORTNIGHT
Lucy explains how to make the most of the next few weeks
Five simple steps to your best cherries – ever!
Are you looking at a cherry tree draped with fruitlets, and you’re crossing your fingers that they all ripen? Let me help you! A bowlful of these summer fruits epitomises all that’s good in life, so let’s get ourselves there.
Firstly, thwart cherry blackfly. This pest congregates on shoot tips en masse in early summer. Keep a watchful eye out for the characteristically stunted new shoots and twisted tips. Aim a strong jet of water at them – and blast! The water dislodges the aphids. Simply repeat this process every week or so and these blackflies won’t be able to build up their numbers.
Secondly, deter fruitlet ‘runoff’. This is where fruitlets yellow and fall before swelling to full size. Keep runoff to a minimum by ensuring trees aren’t drought- or nutrient-stressed throughout June. Keep well watered, and add a liquid high-potash feed to your watering can (follow the individual manufacturers’ instructions for dosage rates).
Thirdly, be mindful of spotted wing drosophila. Yes, it’s a mouthful of a name for a tiny fruit fly – but its maggots can quickly coloni
