Spring is the time when all the fruit plants emerge from their winter dormancy and begin to enter a spring time growth spurt. The best way to help fruit trees or bushes flourish when this happens is too give them a fertilizer that contains high amounts of potash, a blood, fish and bone mix or a seaweed based fertilizer. You should do this by scattering the feed around the bottom of the plant and then watering it in well. A top layer of well rotted manure or compost should then be added as this will act as a mulch. A few fruit trees, such as cherries, apricots, peaches and nectarines, should all enter the blossoming stage towards the start of Spring. To help protect the delicate flowers from incoming frost, you could try and cover them with polythene or fleece. Insects normally take the roll of pollinating fruits like apricots, peaches and nectarines. However, if it is a cool spring, the insects will not come out and naturally pollinate the plants so you may need to intervene a little bit. To hand-pollinate your plants, you will need to use a soft brush and delicately dust the pollen from one fruit bush to another.

When Spring arrives, a whole new selection of pests and diseases emerge. Taking care of them can be quite easy but the method must be effective and quick. When dealing with vegetables, slugs and snails can be very annoying. You can deal with these plant killers by using slug pellets or by baiting them and then disposing of them. Pigeons can also be very deadly towards winter cabbages, cauliflowers and broccoli. Scarecrows will not work against them as the birds become quickly uninterested. The use of nets covering any vulnerable plants is much more effective. Once leaves on brussel sprouts and cabbages start to turn yellow, you must remove them quickly, because if they are left there, they will rot and spread downy mildew or mould to other plants of the same family that are in the surrounding area. Cabbage caterpillars usually live on the outer leaves of the plant and regular inspection and disposal should stop the spread of these creatures.

Fruits are also affected by pests and diseases. You should check all soft fruit bushes for aphids and quickly get rid of them before they manage to breed and multiply. All apple and pear trees should be sprayed to protect them from scab and pear midge. This should not be done when the blossom opens but while they are still in bud. Gooseberries should be netted in order to protect them from bullfinches, spraying them with a special fungicide will also keep them in check if your plants have suffered from American gooseberry mildew in the past. You should check blackcurrants for swollen buds as if they have these, it will mean they are infected with big bud mite. Peaches and nectarines are subject to a disease called peach leaf curl, this can be dealt with by covering peaches and nectarines with a rain-proof sheet during. One last thing is to make sure that you do not spray any fruit trees or bushes whilst they are in blossom as this will kill the flowers and possibly stop production of fruit.