IT has been a summer of scorching heat and parched ground, but at Cotehele in the Tamar Valley the apple trees are bowing under the weight of fruit.

The National Trust estate, home to its only Mother Orchard with 125 heritage varieties, has reported a bumper harvest – so heavy and so early that staff were forced to organise an extra apple-picking weekend to stop thousands of apples going to waste.

Head Gardener David Bouch admitted he feared the drought would spoil the crop. “A month ago I wasn’t confident at all,” he said. “The fruit looked small, as you’d expect in such a dry summer. But the rain came just in time and the apples swelled beautifully. We’ve ended up with one of the best crops we’ve seen, despite the heat.”

Visitors flocked to the orchards to help gather the fruit, filling bags and baskets with Cornish heritage apples to take home. The crop ripened around three weeks earlier than usual, adding to the urgency.

Across the country, the National Trust has reported the same surprising success, with orchards and pumpkin patches thriving in conditions that might have been expected to bring disaster. Experts say last year’s wet weather gave trees and soil the reserves they needed to survive the heatwave.

Rebecca Bevan, the Trust’s Plant Health and Sustainability Consultant, said: “Climate change has brought us some very challenging growing conditions over recent years with extremes of wet and dry weather and many storms.

“It’s heartening however that sometimes the conditions lead to good outcomes and certainly fruit harvests are a success story for 2025.

“This year’s apple and other tree fruit harvests – including much of the abundance in hedgerows – is likely due to the wet conditions last year which meant trees were in good health when they began to make their flower buds in late summer. This was followed by a dry and sunny spring resulting in abundant flowers being pollinated by insects and forming fruit. Lots of sun over the summer was then ideal for ripening the fruit.

“Last year’s wet weather also recharged ground water levels, resulting in the soil staying moister for longer in many areas which probably helped plants like pumpkins get established despite the lack of rain.”

It’s a sharp contrast with 2024, when wet weather and slugs decimated crops. At some sites, half the pumpkin and squash yield was lost.

But this autumn at Cotehele, the mood is celebratory. The sight of branches groaning with fruit has delighted staff and visitors alike – and reminded many of the enduring importance of orchards in Cornwall’s landscape and heritage.

Across the Tamar at Buckland Abbey, the apple harvest is also running ahead of schedule, while the kitchen garden is overflowing with squash and pumpkins. Head Gardener Sam Brown commented: “We have about 50 per cent more squash and pumpkins than usual. We’d normally harvest them in mid-October but are about to start now – around six weeks earlier. There are 20 varieties this year, alongside apples that we’ve been picking since August.”