I would love some help with my trees. If you need photos, I will try to send some. I live in Wisconsin where there has been flooding and now a terrible drought. I will have a crop this year probably a 1/4 of what I normally get. This is sad.

So this happening in the States too? Loads of people in the UK are saying this is happening here (including me) but I put it down to the awful spring and early summer weather we have had. I don't know if your weather has been similar to ours, put down to climate change by many, but as nobody seems to have a definite answer as to what is causing it, I have resolved to wait until the end of the year and then spray with both a fungicide and an insecticide and feed with sulphate of potash in January and sulphate of ammonia and super-phosphate in March. It seems to be happening universally. I was comparing notes with someone in France just the other day who has the same symptoms on her fruit trees, but nobody seems to know why.

Perhaps because there are fewer hive bees and butterflies around. The weather seems to be destabilised and not as reliable for butterflies. Changes in farming practices seem to be doing somesort of damage. I saw a programme about hive bees in America just disapearing from the hive. It is happening here too and in Europe but not, so far, in Australia. They are trying so hard to keep out these pests that are spread by travel and globalisation and people trying to sneak banned stuff into countries. I would say just more attention to detail as suggested and hope that the apple trees are better next year.

I read an article that said fruit trees demand a very cold spell in winter to persuade them to set fruit for later in the year, we had a really warm winter where I am and my trees have next to no apples, I also had some die back, I just pruned it off and tidied things up.

Believe me Alan, we did NOT have a very warm winter in Yorkshire. We didn't even have a slightly warm winter, or spring, or summer. What are house prices like in your area by the way? :o) I think Dorjac may be onto something there.

My apples are not too bad this year. One or two of the pears got a blotchy black leaf pest on them early on but still fruited well. All need a summer prune but it keeps raining. Two of them got clematis companions for not giving much fruit! They have fruited better from the extra water and fertiliser. A couple of trees need crop thinned. I think maybe they react to the weather related to variety, root stock and soil conditions. Commercial growers would go deeply into this and choose the right stock for their average conditions, to make a living.