A-May-zing weather for fruit trees
God bless the spells of bitter cold, snow and frost we had during the winter and God bless the beautiful calm, warmth and sunshine this spring. I expect that most gardeners couldn’t fail to notice the widespread, spectacular flowering of both domesticated and wild fruiting trees this year. Gardeners and non-gardeners alike traveling about the countryside will have been greeted with an almost exotic display around each corner from the hawthorn trees laden in white. With the limits of brilliant white exceeded, an abnormal fraction of the May trees have changed clothes this year and blossomed in pink instead, as if they couldn’t wait longer and ripened themselves instead of setting fruit.
Fruit tree “chill hours” requirement
Even that winter cold spell – now a distant memory – was good for the trees. Proper cold winter weather has a role in regulating the apple tree biological clock. The fabulous flowering we are experiencing this spring can be correlated to the seasonal cold snap we experienced the previous winter. Here is a great article here about the relevance of “chill hours” to fruit tree health if you would like to learn more about this obscure orchard subject: https://orchardnotes.com/2021/01/10/what-are-chill-hours-and-why-do-they-matter/
Ideal pollination conditions in the spring of 2025
The signs so far point to an excellent fruit crop this year. The conditions for pollination have been almost perfect – no overly late frost to speak of, no late storms with calm conditions generally and little to no rain, save in the latter half of April. The busy bees and other pollinators have had free reign to buzz about and see to all of those lovely flowers in perfectly calm, warm and dry conditions.
Drought resilience in horticulture, fruit crops and farming
The only real threat at the moment is a continuation of the current drought-like conditions that may impact fruit size and quality. This is a bigger risk for the commercial grower rather than the garden-orchard hobbyist. The commercial grower will more likely be growing trees on a dwarfing rootstock at an intensive, close spacing in a well drained field. The shallow, weaker roots of the dwarfing trees will come under water stress quicker than the large, deep-rooted, robust trees more common in home gardens.
The resilience of tree crops and the vulnerability of annuals to water stress
The chances are however that normal service will be resumed and we will get a good soaking during the summer. In any case the farmer or gardener growing nut or fruit crop on trees is more at ease with these dry conditions whereas those growing annual vegetables, field crops or grass for livestock grazing have either begun a serious watering regime or are praying for rain, or both.
I have been watering vegetables growing in the polytunnel and I have been giving a drop to my small potato patch in the garden. A few years ago I terraced my sloping outdoor vegetable garden which makes it more resilient to drought. I also deeply mulch my garden with home-made compost further increasing its resilience to both flood and drought.
If you want to learn how to make large volumes of good compost fast then check out my free tutorial on hot compost: https://permaculturedesign.ie/hot-composting/
If normal wet weather service is not resumed in July and August , then there will perhaps be more farmers, gardeners, homesteaders and planners thinking about integrating season-long water storage into our landscape.
Planning for drought resilience in horticulture
Providentially I recently presented on the topic of flood and drought resilience in horticulture at a Lantra webinar hosted by Wales Farming Connect and wrote about it here: https://permaculturedesign.ie/2025/05/01/flood-and-drought-resilience-in-wales-and-ireland/
Beautiful flowering and heavy fruiting in 2025
The copious flowering of the trees of course, with good pollination, gives rise to a heavy fruit set. Here are some images of the early indications of a bumper fruit crop this year in the orchard I tend to at home.
If you are not seeing good results this year in your orchard fear not. I will soon post an article on common orchard fruiting problems and tips for resolving them.
If you want to learn in person how to manage your orchard please read below for learning opportunities:
Paul Lynch teacher biography
Paul is a professional permaculture designer sustainability consultant and orchardist based in West Cork, Ireland.
Paul’s teacher bio: https://www.permaculture.org.uk/user/paul-lynch
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