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hi i need to prune my fruit trees as i been ill and they are a bit over grown, do i need a healer and what ones can i get at b and q and online please
also in the past i have sprayed my trees with a fungal treatment but it does not always work, i didnt bother last year and got a good crop do you think i still need to spray ? , sorri not been on forum i nearly dies about 20 months ago but doing well hope someone can help me please thankyou

Sorry to hear you've been poorly gunners but good to see you back.

I've had a look at the pruning instructions at the RHS website and they don't mention a wound healer. I've not used one in pruning and there seems to be no hurt. So long as you prune the branches at an outward angle so that rain runs outwards away from the tree there's no need to worry I think.

As to fungal spray - depends on whether you have any tree based sickness as to whether it will work. I'm one for grease bands to stop insect life but nothing else. I give my trees a good large mulching of well rotted manure each year and that's about all they get.

gunners71uk wrote:i nearly dies about 20 months ago but doing well

Blimey, gunners, I'm very glad you didn't. Good to hear you're doing well now - keep it that way, please.

What Flo said really - I don't use anything on cut ends, just cut hem so they don't collect water. I'm not sure any sprays are necessary unless the trees look a bit sickly. Keep their soil good and add nutrition and some mycelium. Healthy trees should be able to fight off the odd bit of fungus etc.

I don't use anything to heal trees when I prune, if it is stone fruit you are better off waiting until there are leaves on the trees as the sap heals cuts. You can also give your trees a seeweed feed, you can get some seaweed liquid, dilute as per instructions and spray the trees when they come into leaf, all good advice from Flo and GA. Some woodash sprinkled at the base of the tree as well as a good mulch with compost will help to provide potash for fruit production. Pruning your trees to encourage air into the centre of the tree will help against fungal problems

what do you mean cut the hem ? do i just cut at an angle , thanks for your comments xx

It's a typo I think .... cut them so they don't collect water ....
i.e. cut them at an angle.

thanks i dont have any manure is blood fish and bone ok to use 6 handfuls enough per tree watered in every month i have a limited budget

Sorry - I'm having trouble with my t key. Sometimes it doesn't work and spellcheck won't pick it up if it's a real word - hence hem instead of them.

gunners71uk wrote:thanks i dont have any manure is blood fish and bone ok to use 6 handfuls enough per tree watered in every month i have a limited budget

Don't you have any home made compost, that would be very beneficial. You wouldn't need to use the blood fish and bone every month, just once in the spring and again in the autumn would be fine.

Are there any riding stables near? They always used to have signs outside saying help yourself to manure. It's fresh so needs stacking for a while but if you can get some it's well worth the time and effort and usually free.

Dang, just seen this.

I second (third?) everybody else: no need for wound treatment under normal circumstances.

The only thing we spray our fruit-trees with (stone and pip alike) is 'winter wash' which works by being sticky rather than by chemistry. It discourages the bugs that make the leaves crack and curl, but it has to go on before there are any leaf-buds (as the name implies).

We also scatter ash from the wood burner around them. 2 birds etc.