We got a good 6 minutes on mistletoe management in neglected orchards on BBC Countryfile’s Christmas programme this year.
The location at Moreton Valence, very close to me in Gloucestershire, was a rather neglected apple orchard which has far too much mistletoe in it, the normal balance from regular management having been lost some years, possibly decades, ago.
Countryfile’s Adam Henson, a Gloucestershire farmer himself, joined me and my Gloucestershire Orchard Trust colleague Tim Andrews from Orchard Revival, in tackling the mistletoe on just one tree. I chatted about mistletoe and Tim, who specialises in restoring these neglected orchards, brought along the kit to do the work and talked Adam through the process. And passed round some of his cider (another of his specialisms) afterwards.
You can view the whole programme (the mistletoe starts at about 13 minutes in) at https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001gcmv/countryfile-rockingham-castle
Want your own mistletoe? Grow your own with a Mistletoe Grow-Kit from the English Mistletoe Shop.