GARDENING: ‘MY HAWTHORN TREE IS NOT FRUITING. WHAT SHOULD I DO?’
Q. I have a hawthorn tree that flowers profusely but does not bear berries. What could be the problem?
A. Hawthorn — botanical name Crataegus — is a beautiful small tree or bushy shrub which smothers itself in delicately-scented blossom in spring. This species, only indigenous in localised pockets in the Northern areas, can take as long as 20 years to begin bearing fruit. This being the case, perhaps your specimen is still too young to fruit. Hawthorn thrives in poor, well-drained soil conditions and in areas blessed with very cold, snowy, winters. Alternatively, it could be that it will not fruit in your particular local climate. It would have helped if you had provided your location rather than leaving me to guess: different plant species have differing climatic needs which is why information about locality is so important.
Q. I planted a pecan tree 12 years ago and it began bearing nuts three years back. I have observed that its bearing on the northern and western sides is richer than on the eastern and southern sides. May I know the reason for this?
All your gardening queries answered
A. A very interesting observation indeed and one which has certainly made me wrack my brain. I can only surmise — in the absence of any traceable scientific commentary — that this is related to the amount of direct sunlight, and associated, concentrated seasonal heat, each side of the tree receives. It seems that the tree is fruiting best on its cooler sides but I know of no specific reason for this.
Q. My lemon tree used to give lots of fruit but, a few months back it started to dry out and completely stopped fruiting. How can I save the tree? I live in Karachi.
A. Unfortunately, action should have been taken immediately when you noticed that your tree was dying. All these months later the tree is, sadly, past the stage where it can be saved. There are many reasons why it got sick and much more information is required before I could comment on the possible problem. Now, though, the best thing to do is to completely remove the poor tree, also digging out as much of its root system as possible and — in case of soil infection — also remove quite a bit of the existing soil from the tree root area: disposing of this possibly infected soil in a sensible manner well away from your garden. Replace the soil with new sweet earth mixed with some old, well-rotted, organic manure/organic compost and, this being December, go and purchase a replacement tree from your local nursery and patiently begin again.