they may benefit from a feed in the spring but lack of fruit could be caused by late frosts, some years here in the midlands we do not get plums or pears -- or very few for just that reason, with having such a dry summer here next years fruit could be a poor crop as this can also affect the yeild, anyone local to you have a similar problem?

And to add to what Pamg says, we did indeed have funny weather this year - warm and very sunny in April, cloudy, cold and some frosts in May, so that may have caught the blossom before it was pollinated.

Thank you both for your advice. I will give them a good feed next spring and hope for some better weather. We live near the coast and several people use seaweed as a feed do you think that will work?

i've heard its very rich but although some put it on bare veg gardens in winter ( you've probably seen it) it would need rotting down for probably 6 months ( composting) before mulching the trees

Seaweed is the one thing you can just put into or onto the soil without composting,though as Pam says, it does stay quite lumpy for a while. It must, though, be thoroughly rinsed first to remove all traces of salt.

Thanks for your advice. I am so glad I found this website. I know I shall be a regular visitor and hopefully contribute some of my experiences in the blog section. We have 3 acres to garden that were originally farm land and indeed are surrounded by farm land. I have more experience than my hubby but we are both keen to learn and develop our patch. Once again thank you

Three acres, wow -if you're not farming or keeping horses, your husband can be Capability Brown and you can be Gertrude Jekyll, lol, plenty of room there. I have friends in North Devon who own a lot of land, and that's precisely the roles they've taken - their land has been restructured, ponds created, with fabulous planting by the lady of the house. He does all the sculpture, statuary, and earth works.

I know who capability Brown is, but I'm not sure about Gertrude Jekyll. I have been the one planning the plot but I'm not sure I know what I'm doing really. Hopefully time, reading and asking advice on this site will help greatly and we will have a garden to be proud of in a few years.
Thank you for the help you have given

Gertrude Jekyll, famous plantswoman, did loads of gardens, liked to plant in dreamy drifts of colour.

I looked her up last night, and I like her style. Dreamy drifts of colour sounds wonderful to me