Planning the crop
Apricots don’t like acid soil: improve alkalinity by spreading 60g lime per square metre in late autumn or winter each year, or dig in mushroom compost or poultry manure. If the soil is heavy, put a layer of rubble at the bottom of the planting hole.

Varieties- Moorpark, Trevatt, Story, Hunter and Riverbrite are the most reliable – all are excellent for drying. Moorpark, Blenheim, Earlicot, Supergold and Katy are very good for fresh eating.

Growing tips
Choose two- or three-year-old trees, which should produce fruit in their fourth year. Plant bare-rooted trees from late autumn to early spring and containerised trees all year round if weather and soil conditions are suitable. Apricots are usually self-pollinating. Despite this, it is best to plant two different varieties that will flower at the same time.

Training- Apricots are pruned like other stone fruits but are more vulnerable to bacterial canker and other diseases that enter via pruning wounds. So they are pruned in late winter to early spring or some time after harvesting (commonly in February), when wounds will heal over as rapidly as possible. Prune back new growth (it is a lighter colour) by a third. Cut out any long vertical branches and any old non-productive spurs. Apricots bear fruit on spurs, the ripened wood that bears for up to four years. Without regular pruning, new wood is not forced into growth and production suffers in later years. Pruning of apricots aims to balance stimulating the growth of new wood with retaining fruit-producing ripe wood. By pruning apricots in February, sufficient new growth is produced during autumn and hardened off over winter to ensure the following season’s crop while minimising disease attack.

Feeding and watering- To promote growth after pruning, feed the trees with poultry manure, but keep it away from the trunk. This manure’s high pH helps meet apricots’ preference for neutral to alkaline soil. Fertilise again in spring. Using compost as a mulch should provide adequate nutrition. But if the foliage looks pale, supplement with a pelleted slow-release organic fertiliser. Water the tree deeply and regularly to help promote a burst of new growth before the weather cools. Conserve water by applying a mulch of compost in spring.