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We bought this place 10 months ago and we have a couple of fields that we pretentiously name the olive grove (though half is fruit trees) and the other the orchard.
All the trees are still fairly small and only a peach tree fruited this year. The labels on the plants have long since faded so I really haven't got a clue what they are until they fruit. I recognise the fejoa and a lemon bush, but the rest could be apples, pears, plums, nectarines or even cherries. The leaves are similar, so is there a way to tell them apart?

Hi Possum, It is hard to tell, for as you say the leaves look similar. I think you will just have to wait until they fruit. All my trees have lost their leaves. Are you into spraying? I would give all of them a spray of copper oxychloride as this will reduce leaf curl, black spot and any fungal diseases. And while they are dormant in the winter Conqueror Oil. Yates book will tell you all.

Robin

You could try googling and look at photos of the foliage - cherries are quite different, both leaves and bark; peaches have different leaves again and pink blossom, but apples and pears would be hard to tell apart.

I think you may have to wait until blossom time (that's if they start flowering next spring!) - plums, peaches and cherries will flower before apples (at least they do here).

I have one tree in my garden that I can't identify - I'm sure it is a fruit tree given its shape, leaves and everything about it - but it is the only tree that has never had a single flower of any sort. So I'm stuck!