Will ring barking rejuvenate an apple with poor growth?
Fred Po er, by email
Stefan says: You don’t say who gave this advice but I find it surprising. The technique of ring barking is tricky to do and will not improve your tree as it’s used for plants that are growing very vigorously but producing few fruit.
I suspect your tree needs nothing more than mulching and a good feed. Apply plenty of general fertiliser in the spring and be sure no other plants are growing close to the base to compete with it. But for anyone who does have an old and over-vigorous tree, ring barking might help. It entails carefully cutting a narrow strip of bark from around half the circumference of the trunk; and then repeating it on the opposite side so the two cuts overlap several centimetres apart – but don’t meet. If they do, you’ll have cut off the entire nutrient supply and the tree will die.