TRAINING MY APPLE TREE
Earlier in the year I planted a couple of fan-trained ‘Appletini’ apple trees up either side of my arch between two beds – now it’s time to train them in. The new growth on the trees is supple and easy to manipulate, so I’m tying the required branches to the arch with some twool twine to form a tunnel of apples, then the remaining branches will be removed at two to three leaves from the main stem. This should train the tree into the shape I require and will encourage it to fruit next year. This variety is unusual in the fact it produces lots of smaller-sized, sweet eating apples that can be eaten like grapes as the seeds inside are soft and there’s hardly any core; perfect for a lunch box or snacking on.