Walcot Organic Nursery

Walcot Organic Nursery Where we are :
Walcot Lane,
Drakes Broughton
Pershore
Worcs WR10 2AL

Tel 01905 841587

As we are well into June fruit trees will be shedding any small, poorly pollinated fruitlets. Any fruit that remains on ...
14/06/2026

As we are well into June fruit trees will be shedding any small, poorly pollinated fruitlets. Any fruit that remains on should remain until maturity.

So using scissors or secateurs you can THIN any crowded fruit clusters to give room for the fruit to swell. Thin to 2 or at the most three apples per cluster. Larger cooking apples require more space to swell into.

In a good years plums can become overloaded with fruit. Thinning will lighten the load, allow fruit to swell, improve air circulation and reduce fungal infection.

No need to thin cherries! If you need to thin pears then you are very fortunate!

When it comes to young fruit trees let them fruit gradually. In the first year after planting the general rule is to remove fruitlets. In the second year allow some to ripen on the trees, as in the lower right photo

If you are developing your apple or pear trees into ESPALIERS and have reduced their height to the level at which you wi...
07/06/2026

If you are developing your apple or pear trees into ESPALIERS and have reduced their height to the level at which you wish the first or following tiers to be, now or soon is the time to be bending the shoots down.

A few shoots should be starting to grow. They should be supple enough at this stage to bend down - one to the left and one to the right to start the first or subsequent tiers.

Keep the uppermost shoot growing upright, it will be the strongest shoot. It will be used to raise the espalier to the next tier. Ideally tie in the trained shoots - the upright shoot and new horizontal shoots to canes. The latter can then be tied into your longer horizontal wires.

The photos show containerised trees. We are growing some trees as single tier espaliers in peat free compost. They will be available from late August for collection when they have fully grown and rooted well. We will make them visible on the website nearer the time.

Another troublesome caterpillar at this time of the year is the larvae of the ERMINE MOTH. In May & June the overwintere...
01/06/2026

Another troublesome caterpillar at this time of the year is the larvae of the ERMINE MOTH. In May & June the overwintered caterpillars start to feed gregariously inside webbing defoliating as they feed.

They reach full size in June and pupate with the small white moths with black spots on the wings emerging from July.

One species affects apples. The trees do grow out of the damage. On young and newly established trees it is best to get rid of them by removing the webbing.

On the nursery they have not been so much of a problem this year. Last year we had a lot of damage on some larger trees and a bird cherry in a windbreak / shelter belt was completely deflated and has not recovered.

Last week we had a delivery of sawdust. Once a waste product sawdust is very much in demand for a variety of uses, so we...
23/05/2026

Last week we had a delivery of sawdust. Once a waste product sawdust is very much in demand for a variety of uses, so we have to buy in bulk.

The main use we have for it is on STOOLBEDS for ROOTSTOCK production. When the strongly growing vertical shoots have sawdust filled around their bases it induces them to root into it. Far better then other mediums and lighter aswell! This job is done later in June and again in July.

As growth gets going so CATERPILLARS start feeding voraciously. On the nursery we watch out for WINTER MOTH. Wingless fe...
10/05/2026

As growth gets going so CATERPILLARS start feeding voraciously. On the nursery we watch out for WINTER MOTH. Wingless females mate with winged males over the winter. The females then crawl up the trunks and lay their eggs near buds.

These hatch as growth starts with the green caterpillars with yellow longitudinal stripes eating the margins of leaves, making leave holes and bringing leaves together to protect themselves from predators. Generally making a mess of the new emerging foliage.

Not so bad on larger established trees but a shame to have younger trees affected.. Keep a look out for them now and earlier next year. Squash the caterpillars. A preventative measure on a small scale is to wrap ready made horticultural grease bands or apply the formulated grease in bands of about 10cm 1-2 m above soil level in October.

On a larger scale biological pesticide Bacillus thuringiensis can be applied when the caterpillars are present.

It's been a while since we have posted. It's a busy winter and through April we have been preparing for the new growth. ...
02/05/2026

It's been a while since we have posted. It's a busy winter and through April we have been preparing for the new growth.

Recently we have been trying to finish PRUNING MOTHER TREES before growth gets going too much. These trees will provide our propagation material when it comes to budding in August. We try to grow as much of our own so all material is organic. So we have a few hundred mother trees!

A good way of storing APPLES if you have a to be glut of fruit is to turn it into APPLE JUICE ! Now there may be apple e...
03/10/2025

A good way of storing APPLES if you have a to be glut of fruit is to turn it into APPLE JUICE ! Now there may be apple events in your vicinity where juicing is taking place.

But for the juice to last any length of time without being frozen it needs to be pasteurised. Heated to 70 degrees I think. Then it will last up to two years.

We are into apple season now. We have assembled an APPLE DISLAY in our Nursery building. Of course you can view these va...
13/09/2025

We are into apple season now. We have assembled an APPLE DISLAY in our Nursery building. Of course you can view these varieties and their details on the website https://walcotnursery.co.uk/ but sometimes it's good to see the fruit itself and even to taste.

You can do both with us. If you are local you are welcome to visit weekdays and some Saturday mornings 10-1pm by arrangement.

There will be autumn events coming up aswell. Often these will have fruit displays and sales. The varieties of apples https://walcotnursery.co.uk/product-category/apples/ may be similar to what we offer, but there are so many different varieties.

Recently we have been mounding up our STOOLBEDS using green waste compost and sawdust. These beds produce rootstocks whi...
03/08/2025

Recently we have been mounding up our STOOLBEDS using green waste compost and sawdust.

These beds produce rootstocks which can be cut when they have lost their leaves over the winter by removing the green waste & sawdust to expose the roots which have grown in the compost over the rest of the summer.

The cut rootstocks can then be grafted over the winter or planted pending grafting at a later date. We will have a selection of rootstocks available again this winter https://walcotnursery.co.uk/product-category/rootstocks/. They will be available from early February through to late march. You may wonder why so late in the winter. Well, firstly we only grow a small selection ourselves. Secondly it takes winter time to process - cut when dormant, grade then bundle. It all takes time before we can receive.

We will make rootstocks available to advance order from late November / early December. We would then be in touch to send or for you to collect from early February.

Address

Walcot Lane, Drakes Broughton
Pershore
WR102AL

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 1pm

Telephone

+441905841587

Website

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