[shokkyy]

has caused disasters in my garden. My beautiful golden gage tree, which I planted years ago and which has consistently given a fabulous crop every year, has fallen down and now is leaning against the side of the house. Two of the hanging baskets holding my Gartenperle tomatoes, which had just begun cropping, have pulled their brackets out of the wall and fallen down, I think because of the sheer weight of the volume of water that fell last night. On its way down, the tree also took out my coldframe holding Swiss chard, savoy cabbage and broccoli plants ready to be planted out. And a huge branch of my crack willow is now lying across the top of my best apple tree, also loaded with fruit.

There is a massive crop of fruit on the golden gage tree, I suspect only a couple of weeks from being ready to pick, and I hate to lose all that fruit. Does anyone know if they're likely to ripen if I take them off now? If so, what's the best way to do it? It's too many to lay out on windowsills or anything like that, probably at least a dozen buckets full, so I'm not sure what to do with them or whether it's even worth trying.

[Diddy Gardener]

Oh, that's brutal! Don't know what to do about your fruit, but you have my sympathies... wild night indeed! 

[Benandbill]

Sorry I can't offer any advice on this but you certainly have my condolences on any loss and the damage.  I've just got back from a week in Scotland and haven't checked the allotment for any damage yet.  That must be some terrible weather you had down in Swindon y'day.  I'm sure someone on here will be able to offer you a bit of advice..  Good luck!   

[Yorkie]

On the basis that bananas give off ethylene, which encourages ripening, I'd see what you can do by laying them out in a warm dry place with some bananas (not unripe ones).  That's if the tree is completely dead - you may find on closer inspection that part of the stem is intact, which will mean that some of the gages won't die immediately either.

[sunshineband]

What awful devastation 

You're not far from us and it was pretty bad.

Has the gage tree snapped, or are some of the roots still in the ground? If so, you might be able to lever the tree over if it is small enough and stake it upright again. Just a thought.

Sad when you lose trees like this 

[shokkyy]

No, the tree's not dead at all, it just kind of tipped over but didn't fall all the way because it landed on the house. Another 6 inches to the right and we would have lost the roof.

I've managed to get a tree surgeon out to look at it today. He said the tree can't be salvaged because the root plate has gone (not sure what that is, but I think he means it will never be stable again). It's 15 to 20 feet high, with quite a big canopy, so that's way too big for propping up. He's also sorted out the willow tree branch that was lying on the apple tree, and the apple tree seems to have sprung back with minimal damage.

The good news is we've been able to salvage at least part of the crop. He's cut away all the bits that were endangering the house, and what's left is now largely propped up on its own branches and a big concrete planter that was conveniently underneath and seems to have taken a lot of the weight. He said it should be safe to leave it like that for a few weeks, until the fruit is ripe and I can pick them. I've probably lost three-quarters of the fruit, but there was so much on there it's still a very worthwhile crop.

It's always been a fabulous fruit tree, an Oullins Golden Gage, so I guess I'll have to plant a new one in the autumn. Hopefully I can salvage enough fruit to make a few jars of jam, and I'll have to make them last until the new tree gets big enough to start cropping

Thanks for the condolences

[sunshineband]

Glad you have made some headway at least, even if it is not the best of outcomes for yu Shokky  :(o