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I have two pear trees and an apple tree. With the right water/sun ratio, we can get some wonderful fruit, a couple of years ago was particularly good, but lately it has been a bit dry. At the moment in London there is a bit of a hosepipe ban going on which doesn't help the fruit.



A good layer of mulch around the bases (chipped bark or similar) will help retain moisture and reduce weeds. In our old garden we lifted half the turf and replaced with bark to create a play area with trampoline, swings etc. Sooo much less lawn to mow. We also mulched all our borders, cuts down weeding time dramatically. Keep grass to a minimum I say.