April Fruit Calendar

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General

Do not spray any plants with insecticides whilst flowering as this could harm pollinating insects leading to a poor fruit yield later in the year

Pruning & training  fruit in April

Finish planting raspberry canes if not already done, cutting them back to a bud about 30cm/12" from the ground

Prune young pyramid or fan trained plum trees

Start pruning established plum trees to restrict size if necessary 

Prune any gooseberries, red and white currants which weren't pruned at the end of  the last season

Ventilate protected strawberries on sunny days

Finish planting strawberry runners my the middle of the month 

Untie and re-train wall trained figs which were bundled together for winter protection

Start pruning figs at the end of the month 

Spring prune established peach and nectarine trees 

Harvesting

Continue harvesting Rhubarb picking 1 or 2 sticks from each plant at any one time

Care and Protecting Fruit in April

Continue to protect blossoms on trees a double layer of netting or fleece if frost is expected but uncover as soon as possible to ensure pollination is not hampered

Cover strawberries with cloches or poly tunnels for an earlier crop

Hand pollinate early flowering trees particularly if insects seem scarce

Hand pollinate wall trained peaches and nectarines. If the weather is particularly dry, spray with a fine mist of water at midday to help fruit set

Apply fertiliser to trees and bushes if not already done in March (see individual growing pages)

Continue to spray pears and apples against scab

Remove suckers from pear and  apple trees if present 

Spray raspberry and blackberry canes against spur blight if it is a known problem