A willow and hazel tree guard.
The Orchard Project guiding primary school children how to make a tree guard from willow and hazel.
Using more natural materials in orchards can be a beautiful and sustainable way of protecting young trees. Children at The Gates Primary School in Bolton created hurdle-style tree guards around their newly planted trees with our Manchester project manager, Joe.
Time to gather your entries together!
Sounds like a fun weekend project 😁
Close to a dozen white cherry blossoms in various states of opening up. The trunk of the tree is visible in the background
Sweet cherry flowers are a go! Fingers crossed I get a good fruit set this year. 🌱 #bloomscrolling
juvenile Cercis in flower, planted along fenceline, at sunset, grapevines in background
juvenile Cercis in flower, grapevines in background
black bumblebee vigorously working, charging directly at me in one (1) second
black bumblebee vigorously working, charging directly at me in one (1) second
Newly-installed, this Cercis (siliquastrum, არღავანი, AKA ‘Judas tree’) absolutely glows. 🌱
And the bumblebees won’t let me near it - note blur!
A man in a puffer jacket and bobble hat holds a young tree while a boy helps to move soil into the planting hole.
Three boys in black jackets grinning at the camera while planting a tree with a mural in the background.
A young girl moves mulch around a newly planted tree with a mural in the background.
We spent a wonderful afternoon planting a new #communityorchard at the Calder Street Oasis in Govanhill, Glasgow with children from nearby Holy Cross Primary School and Hollybrook Academy.
It's great to see communities come together like this to make a difference 🍏
📷️ Image 2: L Vroomen
It's east-facing, so these trees catch the morning sun quite nicely, dropping into shade in early afternoon.
Spraying branches of an old apple tree, the scars were branches broke off can be seen
The same trees in the middle of the shot, with cut material lying around underneath the tree. Anu is inspecting the area for a nice sticks.
My favourite Apple tree at our old Orchard lost some major limbs last autumn. Cutting the damaged branches out only now, it’s basic form is still beautiful.
A thin-ish branch of a young pear tree growing up into a very blue sky with small leaves at the tip and what looks like a slightly rumpled sleeve of white flowers in the middle.
The pear tree has put on white sleeves! 🌱
#organic-gardening
Pear trees, dotted with white blossom, growing against a tall brick wall in a walled garden, with planting beds in the foreground.
White 'Louise Bonne of Jersey' pear blossom and green leaves, against a brick wall.
White 'Clapp's Favourite' pear blossom and green leaves, against a brick wall.
White 'Buerre Hardy' pear blossom and green leaves, against a brick wall.
Wall-grown pears soaking up the spring sunshine today at NT Quarry Bank, speckled with sprays of bright white flowers.
From L to R on the wall: 'Louise Bonne of Jersey', 'Clapp's Favourite' and 'Buerre Hardy'. Individual pics in the same order.
#pears #NTQBfruit #blossom
Looks pretty peachy to me, with a possible hint of nectarine... 🙂👍
I have Lasgerdi Mashhad apricots for the first time... i can't belive! 🤩
Lasgerdi Mashhad - Very sweet, structured and juicy with peachy - flowery flavor.
A horizontal branch with clusters of white pear blossom against a brick wall.
A blackthorn bush, covered in masses of white flowers.
A close-up of three pale pink nectarine flowers, against a brick wall.
Clusters of bright white damson blossom in an orchard.
Anyone for a few dozen early spring blossom pics? I've got apricot, peach, nectarine, pear, plum, greengage, damson, cherry, Japanese quince, and blackthorn... small selection below, plenty more on the blog:
orchardnotes.com/2026/03/31/g...
Apple buds just beginning to break open in spring.
Apple blossom unfurling
An apple fruitlet, surrounded by leaves.
A 'Herefordshire Russet' apple glowing in the sunshine.
It's very nearly apple blossom season in our neck of the woods, so it seems like a good time to re-post the photo essay I put together in 2023:
'Lifecycle of an Apple, From Bud to Blossom to Fruit'
orchardnotes.com/2023/03/28/l...
Many, many more photos via the link.
#apples #blossom #fruit
Uh oh 😂 there are peach and apricot trees trained against a trellis across the end of this polytunnel in a garden I look after... I thought they were doing pretty well (loads of peaches last year #nomnomnom).. and then I went and looked round the back 😱 any idea how to fix this?! #gardening 🌱
I concur with the other comment - prune the tree, tape the tunnel. Then keep the growing tips cut short 👍
Tightly furled, pale pink and dark pink buds of apple flowers, with curled green leaves.
Won't be too long now before the apples start to blossom.
This was early variety 'Devonshire Quarrenden' this afternoon.
Lovely stuff! 🤩
Hendre Huufcap pear blossom
Happy Easter! We hope you are having a peaceful bank holiday weekend.
We had a lovely morning walk, enjoying the beautiful pear blossom in Gollop Orchard today. 🍐
A group of people outside in early spring stand around a table and observe buds on pruned branches.
A group of women pruning a fruit tree in early spring
A gorgeous spring day at Down To Earth in Swansea. We had a brilliant time working with this social enterprise's staff team, taking them through hands-on tree care, orchard surveys and management plans. #CommunityOrchards
How were they in terms of general condition when you bought them? And did they specify rootstock type, or just give an approximate growth extent? Just curious...
Barry (@barmas.bsky.social) reflects on cider’s role in conservation, highlighting the connection between consumer choices and orchard preservation, biodiversity and cultural heritage.
A wooden sign reading 'Berry Fields Orchard' stands in front of a group of apple trees in a grassy area, with larger woodland trees in the background.
A map of Birmingham, UK, heat-shaded in tones of green to indicate where the highest concentrations of publicly accessible fruit trees in the city can be found.
A map of the Stirchley area of Birmingham, UK, with coloured dots showing where publicly accessible fruit trees have been planted.
A man (Lawrence Weston) wearing a green t-shirt, brown trousers, a bucket hat and sunglasses stands with arms akimbo amongst a group of fruit trees in a grassy orchard.
A real treat on the blog today, a guest post by Lawrence Weston of Clent Hills Orchards, on a recently completed project to identify, record, and map every one of the publicly accessible fruit trees in Birmingham, UK.
17 species, over 1,600 trees, full details here: orchardnotes.com/2026/04/03/g...
Here is a poem about a very old Pear Tree, Ma Dame Pyrus, which was a delightful discovery when I purchased the house with a small old orchard. Hope you enjoy it@ciderreview.bsky.social @rosscider.bsky.social @orchardnotes.com @barmas.bsky.social
Lovely. I enjoyed the imagery of "gone to ground and bletted out in soil", very evocative of fallen fruit in a late autumn orchard.
Blimey. Brits abroad, eh? 🙂
What's in a name?
Historically, this sort of fruit preserve has had a few different names in England - marmelade, marmalade, marmalute - and has been made from various types of fruit: orange, quince, cherry, apple, apricot, gooseberry etc.
@ciderreview.bsky.social Just racked off the 2025 perry and cider, and another year’s cycle begins again!
Thank you 😊
A wooden sign reading 'Berry Fields Orchard' stands in front of a group of apple trees in a grassy area, with larger woodland trees in the background.
A map of Birmingham, UK, heat-shaded in tones of green to indicate where the highest concentrations of publicly accessible fruit trees in the city can be found.
A map of the Stirchley area of Birmingham, UK, with coloured dots showing where publicly accessible fruit trees have been planted.
A man (Lawrence Weston) wearing a green t-shirt, brown trousers, a bucket hat and sunglasses stands with arms akimbo amongst a group of fruit trees in a grassy orchard.
A real treat on the blog today, a guest post by Lawrence Weston of Clent Hills Orchards, on a recently completed project to identify, record, and map every one of the publicly accessible fruit trees in Birmingham, UK.
17 species, over 1,600 trees, full details here: orchardnotes.com/2026/04/03/g...