Early bumper harvest reported at historic gardens

Head gardener Sam Brown says Buckland Abbey has 50% more squash and pumpkins than usual

The National Trust says it has been surprised with a bumper harvest of fruit and vegetables in an historic gardens it runs in Devon.

The charity said high temperatures at Buckland Abbey in the spring and a wet June had resulted in more apples, pears, plums, squash and pumpkins as well as earlier ripening of the produce.

This is a marked change from last year when the trust reported an "abysmal" harvest in southern England after poor weather had resulted in "army of slugs".

Head gardener Sam Brown said the team had "about 50% more squash and pumpkins than usual" and although they would usually harvest them in mid-October they were starting now.

David Bouch says the bountiful apple harvest is the result of the year's high temperatures

At the National Trust in Cotehele, in the Tamar Valley, the orchards have produced thousands of apples far earlier than expected.

Head gardener David Bouch said: "This has been one of the hottest years on record, and after a bountiful blossom season, we've had a bumper crop of apples that caught us off guard."

He said the team, like those at other National Trust properties, had decided to add extra days during which the public could pick the fruit so the unexpected surplus did not go to waste.

The apple orchard at the National Trust at Trelissick, near Truro, was also having "a fantastic year", assistant head gardener Wella Chubb said, which she added was the result of a warm and sunny spring that had brought pollinating insects to the garden.

Ranger Harry Whiting says it has been a "bumper crop for all fruit trees" at Killerton

At the trust's estate at Saltram, in Plymouth, the orchards are so full that a community apple-picking day has been scheduled for 18 September, which the trust said was far earlier than usual.

Harry Whiting, a ranger at the National Trust at Killerton, near Exeter, reported "a bumper crop for all fruit trees in our orchards this year, with plums, apples and pears fairing particularly well".

He said: "It was a great year for blossom, with little frosts, rain or wind allowing for more fruit to set."

Like at Saltram, he said the apples and pears had matured two or three weeks earlier than usual and consequently apple picking and pressing had been brought forward.