[GreyScales]

My plot neighbour has recently given up his side of the plot and kindly arranged for the rest of it to be passed on to me.

Most of his side is various fruit trees, all of which have been left doing their own thing since last Autumn. There is a big age gap between them, a few large trees towards the shed and a couple of smaller more recent ones up front.

There are black blemishes on the leaves of some of them, is it anything I should be concerned about?

Usefully the labels of the trees were attached to the shed interior, although I don't know if this is all of them. Which is which is going to be another matter

I'd appreciate any advice on their care as I don't have any fruit trees on my side, that and they're probably somewhat neglected having been left alone for so long.

[Norfolkgrey]

The black stuff - looks like blackfly and their damage. The tree looks established so should be able to fight it off in the long run so no need to do anything. Just clear the when they fall.

Prune the plums this month possibly next month once the fruit has been removed. Apples and pears should be pruned over winter when they are dormant. Remove dead, diseased and crossing branches first. Then look at restricting height, thinning center etc. Do not remove more than one third at a time as you may shock the tree.

Then at the root end - remove any competing grass or weeds from the trunk to the drip line of the branches and mulch. I also give mine a sprinkling of BFB when I mulch but not esstential.

Good luck

[sunshineband]

Greyscales, the black marks look like a fungus to me. Is this a pear tree? It can spread and affect fruiting, so gathering up all fallen leaves and burn them, and spraying the tree with a fungicide next season will help keep it under control. As Norfolkgrey suggested, a decent feed will help them too. I use Sulphate of Potash or Blood, Fish & Bone in February, raked in lightly over the root area.

How good to inherit trees already fruiting!

[GreyScales]

Took a better picture of the area today, it is a bit of a mass of different trees at the back. A mixture of apples, pears and plums. There is even a small cherry tree hidden around the back of the shed strangely enough, shaded there so I'm not sure how well it does.

The ones up front are apples and pears, I'm not sure what the small one next to the support post is yet; as it has no fruit and looks different to the others.

I'm afraid the ones with the black on the leaves are pears, two small trees. I'll definitely look into some sort of fungicide, I tend to favour natural products but I'll see what's available.

I've begun clearing the weeds around the trees, I've got some BF&B I can mix in for them but I also think I'll mulch them with some manure while I'm at it. Oddly enough I found a small crop of red spuds between two of the trees, red ants had built a nest inside the largest one.

Cheers for the advice