If you’ve been out in the garden and noticed your apple tree suddenly dropping small fruit in early summer, don’t panic. It’s not a sign something’s gone wrong. In fact, it’s perfectly normal, and it’s a good thing. This natural process is known as June drop, and it’s the tree’s way of managing its resources. It helps prevent overloading and gives the remaining apples a better chance of growing big, healthy, and delicious.
So let’s take a look at what June drop actually is, why it happens, and the one simple job I always do afterwards to give my tree a helping hand.
What Is June Drop?
June drop is pretty much what it sounds like. Your apple tree drops a portion of its fruit in or around June. It usually happens 8 – 10 weeks after blossom, when the tiny apples have started to form. But here’s the important bit. It’s not a problem.
Your tree is just doing a bit of housework. It will often set more fruit than it can support long-term, especially if you’ve had good blossom and pollination. Once the fruit starts to develop, the tree reassesses and sheds any apples it can’t carry through to harvest. These are usually the smallest, misshapen, or poorly pollinated ones.
It’s a completely natural process, and it helps the tree focus its energy on the best of the bunch.
It Doesn’t Always Happen in June
Despite the name, June drop doesn’t always stick to the calendar. In the UK, it can happen any time from May into July. It really depends on your local weather and growing conditions, as well as the variety of tree you are growing. So don’t worry if yours seems a bit late or early. Just keep an eye out, and when the majority of the drop has happened, that’s your cue to step in and do a bit of thinning.
Why I Thin the Apples After June Drop
Although the tree does a decent job on its own, I usually find there are still clusters where three or four apples are growing right on top of each other. If you leave these clusters untouched, you’ll often get smaller, underdeveloped fruit, or even more apples dropping before they’re ripe. So I give the tree a hand.
By thinning out these groups and leaving the best apple in each cluster, I get fewer fruit overall, but they’re far better quality. They’re larger, healthier, and taste better. I’m also not asking the tree to do more than it realistically can.
How I Thin My Apples
This is one of those gentle, satisfying garden jobs that doesn’t need fancy tools. Just a bit of observation and some time.
What I Look For:
- Clusters where multiple apples are growing close together
- Any fruit that looks damaged, small, or oddly shaped
- Apples that are touching each other or rubbing against branches
What I Do:
- Pick the one to keep
I choose the largest, healthiest-looking apple in each cluster. You could leave 2 apples, but no more than 2. - Remove the rest
I twist them off gently with my fingers. If they’re a bit stubborn, I’ll use clean secateurs, but usually they come away easily. - Think about spacing
I aim to leave 10 to 15 cm (around 4 to 6 inches) between growing spurs, so each one has room to grow.
What Do I Do With the Ones I Remove?
- Healthy fruit can go straight into the compost heap.
- Damaged or diseased fruit goes in the bin, not the compost, just to avoid spreading anything nasty.
Want to See It in Action?
If you’d like to watch me do the whole thing step by step, I’ve filmed the process so you can see exactly how I tackle it. Head over to the YouTube channel
