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Does anyone have any top tips on non-mechanical ways to get the fruit off the trees without bruising? I have tried the blanket on the ground approach but bashing the trees relieved it of very little fruit , shaking the tree made me feel very silly and strangely weak, and I thought getting it off the tree before it fell to the ground would lessen the number of wasps and bees in the orchard area... (I hate wasps and have to do everything I can to limit their presence !)

Thanks in advance
Moorf

Allo again Moorf...are we talking citrus?

Nah, we're talking plums and pears .... was thinking of inventing a little harvester thingy - a net with a cutting device - so I can reach those lovely ripe ones at the top!! By the time hubby gets home I shall have bastardized the spa pool skimmer and secateurs!

Oooh ah... A fatherless pair of secateurs and pool skimmer leaves me wincing... And the thought of you wobbling about on a ladder weilding the adopted sons is just plain terrifying *shudder* The fruit will probably jump off and run like those little haggis in the Old man of Loch Nager.

If a ladder doesn't get you to the top, maybe prune the tree back to manageable, and pick as you go? Not much point having a tree that's too big to pick, it will attract birds if you can't clear fruit from the top and could cost you a crop.

Time to fire up the chainsaw???? 8)

Ah, so it's okay for me to start chopping it now, when harvesting - good, because the next job after harvesting was going to be getting the tree to a manageable size - I just wasn't sure if it was the right time to be hacking away at it - thanks boots.

Don't worry, the skimmer and secateurs are still in one piece....

Have you looked to see if you can buy a tool for harvesting high up fruit? Cos they do exist, as least in France, made by the Wolf tool range. We have one and it is invaluable for harvesting peaches and apples. (It's a net on a long pole with a little cutter).

Bummer - I was about to write to the patent office

G'DAy All,

I LOVE the wolf tool range - saw them in Belgium and brought a handle and 3 tools home with me. Haven't seen 'em here so I am not sure if they are available in Aus/NZ.

Nev

My husband has got every little thingy that fits on the poles, and in fact, he's got poles and poles, wooden ones and plastic ones, long ones and short ones .......

I poo-pooed all this stuff at first but have got quite used to using them in my veg patch, just pop off the hoe and pop on the rake.

Thankfully he bought all that stuff when he had a good income!

I think you could quite easily make an apple/pear picker yourself, if you can't buy one, you need a long pole (bamboo is good, as it's light and strong), a bag or net fixed to the top of that with a ring of metal, to keep it open. Preferably a sharpish edge to the metal (but not too sharp, so you don't damage too much of the fruit).

Plums are more difficult - just keep bashing the tree and forget about feeling silly!

Ina

How about leaving the top, unreachable ones just for the birds? Although they don't seem to want my yellow cherry plums...

Sounds like you need several small children armed with leaf rakes, like I have! The close tines on the rake pull the fruit off, but it does still bounce on the ground, possibly bruising it. Their other idea was to use some downpipe from guttering, the pipe knocks the fruit, then the fruit rolls down inside it to the ground. Sorry, these ideas aren't mine, they belong to my fruit-loving 8 year-olds.

And further to what Ina said - you could attach an empty tin can to a pole, comes with it's own sharp edge to cut the fruit off, too!