'A near perfect summer' - Wolverhampton National Trust property enjoys stunning apple harvest and sets sights on pumpkin success this Halloween
A National Trust property in Wolverhmapton has reaped the rewards of a long hot summer with a bumper crop of apples this year, and are hoping the autumn will bring similar success.
Wightwick Manor in Wolverhmapton has reaped the rewards of a long hot summer with a bumper crop of apples this year, and are hoping the autumn will bring similar success.
Despite the drought and record-breaking hot summer, The National Trust is reporting bumper crops of orchard fruit as well as pumpkins in its gardens – in stark contrast to last year when wet weather reduced fruit harvests and slugs and snails decimated squash crops.
The conservation charity puts the unusually abundant apple and pumpkin harvest down to a combination of weather factors including last year’s wet conditions, the warm and dry spring and plenty of sun this summer.
James Carnell, Head Gardener at Wightwick Manor and Gardens said: “The long hot summer seems to have been perfect for producing loads of sweet apples, particularly the cider varieties in our orchard, which have produced more apples than I have ever seen.
"It was great to share our orchard harvest with so many visitors on Heritage Open Weekend. We are now looking forward to seeing how our pumpkin patch produces in the run up to October half term for our annual Halloween trail.”
Although crops are ripening weeks earlier than normal after the sunny summer, the Trust adds pumpkins will still be good for Halloween with careful storage.
And the “near-perfect” growing conditions have led to a surge in requests to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) to identify “mystery” apple varieties growing in domestic gardens and community orchards.
The RHS said it had received more than 500 mystery apples this month alone to be analysed through its fruit identification service, significantly more than in previous year – and with one sample even arriving after hours over the fence at the charity’s garden at Wisley.
Jim Arbury, RHS fruit expert, said: “Most people with apple trees don’t know which cultivars they are growing.
“Identification encourages care for existing trees and helps preserve rare heritage varieties.
“Once people know what they have, they are more likely to want to nurture these trees, many of which may prove resilient and valuable in our changing climate.”
The National Trust’s Rebecca Bevan said that while climate change had already brought very challenging growing conditions in recent years, with extremes of wet and dry weather, it was “heartening” that sometimes the conditions lead to good outcomes, such as this year’s fruit harvest.
She added: “This year’s apple and other tree fruit harvests – including much of the abundance in hedgerows – is likely due to the wet conditions last year which meant trees were in good health when they began to make their flower buds in late summer.
“This was followed by a dry and sunny spring resulting in abundant flowers being pollinated by insects and forming fruit. Lots of sun over the summer was then ideal for ripening the fruit.
“Last year’s wet weather also recharged ground water levels, resulting in the soil staying moister for longer in many areas which probably helped plants like pumpkins get established despite the lack of rain."
