Orchard Book

Wonderlands of bounty and beauty, orchards offer an abundance of fruit in a wildlife haven full of diversity. A well-managed orchard works with nature to provide maximum harvest for minimal effort. Wade Muggleton has distilled 20 years of orchard know-how into this practical handbook to help you plan, plant and manage your orchard, whatever your garden size or budget. With his expert guidance you can have an orchard on any plot - smallholding, garden, allotment or yard - and make the right choices of rootstock, varieties, planting plan and maintenance strategies. Not just a field with fruit trees in it, an orchard can be anything from an over-grazed field to a row of neat little cordons. With growing, harvesting, storing and preserving advice for multiple varieties, Wade helps you choose the right options for your needs and space, and provides practical suggestions on pruning, propagation, maintenance, and eco-friendly pest and disease management to help you maximise your harvest and minimise your outlay. The diversity, history and heritage of apples and other fruit trees is fascinating, and Wade's passion for them is infectious. Let him draw you into a world of apples and pears, walnuts and cobnuts, cherries and plums; of ancient varieties such as quince, medlar and mulberry; and even of juicy apricots, figs and peaches. Imagine having organic fruit all year round from your own little nature haven and use Wade's tried-and-tested experience to create your perfect orchard. AUTHOR: Wade Muggleton has been interested in permaculture for over 30 years, having travelled in Australia and New Zealand in the 1990s where the concept originated. He has subsequently been a college lecturer and a countryside officer in local government. He lives in Shropshire with his partner and two children, where their plot, Station Road Permaculture Garden, has been a demonstration site for permaculture as well as open under the National Open Gardens Scheme. In 2013, he acquired a field which allowed his orchard ambitions to expand. He now has a collection of over one hundred and thirty varieties of fruit trees and was featured on BBC Gardeners World in 2018. He has written for Permaculture magazine for many years and regularly teaches, gives talks and runs training sessions on a wide range of orchard subjects. Colour Illustrations throughout