In article , Nick Maclaren
writes
In article ,
Lynda Thornton wrote:

What can be done to even out the apple harvest? Do I need to get a tree
surgeon or apple expert for advice or should we just get it pruned and
then thin the apples severely next year? I am a bit nervous as I
haven't kept a large fruit tree before, and I know very little about
pruning, especially apple trees which I think isn't that
straightforward, but something needs to be done to get the tree back on
to an even keel.

That is the standard recommendation. Don't worry - the most common
problem with inappropriate pruning is that you reduce the crop!

One alternative possibility is that there was very poor pollination
because of the dire spring. Don't assume that it is the tree based
on just two years.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Hi Nick

I take your point about the short time we've experienced the tree's
behaviour and we also had a wet and cold spring here which I think
delayed and affected quite a few plants. However, we have some other
fruit trees in the same area of the garden, including 4 small (ie kept
small by pruning) eating apple trees, and two of them are full of fruit
(one is discovery variety I'm pretty sure) but the other two have hardly
any on them. There are a couple of small conference pear trees and they
both have a decent number of fruit on them, better than last year. We
also have a large mature victoria plum tree right next to the bramley,
too close really and some branches are tangling up together, but that is
also heavily laden with fruit.

Thanks for the response, I will bide my time and see what happens next
year before taking too much drastic action.

Lynda