Many tree fruits, such as apples, pears and plums, need to have their fruit thinned. Not only will this improve fruit size, quality and flavour, but it will also prevent branches from breaking. In addition, producing very heavy crops can exhaust a young tree and may slow the growth of new buds. This leads to 'biennial bearing' in which the tree may bear a heavy crop one year, and little or no fruit the next.

Blossom Thinning

Reduce the risk of biennial bearing by removing the majority of blossom clusters from affected trees. 90% of all the clusters should be pinched out, leaving the rosette of young leaves around each intact.

Fruit Thinning

Thinning techniques tend to vary from fruit to fruit. However, in general, as the fruits begin to grow, you will need to remove any unhealthy or disfigured fruits, and then thin the remainder so that there is approximately 5-15 cm (2-6 in) gap between each one. The gap size will depend on the type of fruit; small fruit such as plums will need less of a gap than larger fruit such as apples.