gardening blog
If you are thinking of buying a fruit tree, or trees, for your garden, this blog is a short guide to buying and planting at this time of year, and why. November is the time when the bare-root tree market kicks off in the UK. Nurseries are busy digging trees up now and sending them out to garden centres and direct to retail customers because they are in their ‘dormant’ phase. Throughout the spring and summer deciduous trees are in full growth, producing and storing up energy to take them through the winter. Once the leaves fall, and they are in a sleep-like state, they are less likely to be damaged by the disturbance, and besides which, it’s much cheaper to buy bare-root than pot-grown. Planting now gives them the best chance of ‘bedding in’ before they burst into growth next spring. So, here we are talking about what are known as ‘top fruit’ such as apples, pears, plums, gages, damsons and cherries, etc. as opposed to ‘soft fruit’ like raspberries, blackcurrants, etc. Fruit trees come in several different shapes and sizes, and can even be trained in various ways, but what is suitable for your garden will be determined by the size of garden, soil type, shelter and the aspect, e.g. will the tree be against a south-facing wall or are you looking for something planted out in the open? SITE & SOIL: Taking the south-facing wall as an example, this gives quite a range of trees that could be grown. South-facing gets the most sun and so is warm and very conducive to fruit-growing, but you also need to check that the soil is free-draining without becoming too dry. Avoid a position that is in a ‘rain shadow’; this is where walls prevent the rain falling on a strip of about 30cms next to the wall, and so is extremely dry. But neither do you want somewhere that is susceptible to water-logging. As with most other plants, moist but well-drained soil is desirable. Shelter is also another consideration: I’m not sure I would plant a fruit tree if I lived on a cliff-top unless I could create a substantial windbreak! You’ve seen windswept trees in exposed areas. Shelter is necessary for insects to pollinate your trees, especially as fruit trees flower early in the year. Most fruit trees are fine on neutral soil but some apples, for example, prefer neutral to slightly acidic. I think, from tests I’ve done, that Bolton and the surrounding areas are acidic but only to about 6.6 on the pH scale, so that’s not highly acidic. Our soil here is quite heavy clay though, so for much of our planting we have to incorporate soil improver or manure to encourage adequate drainage. A good soil depth is necessary for fruit trees – unrestricted to 70cms. FORMS & ROOTSTOCKS: The next things to think about when buying a fruit tree is what kind of fruit would you like to have in your garden, and also what form and therefore what rootstock is suitable and available. The form is the tree’s shape that you either buy it in or that you are aiming towards (training). The diagram at the top of the blog shows the forms that are available: standard (and half-standard), bush (and dwarf bush), pyramid (and dwarf pyramid), column, espalier, cordon, step-over and fan. It is also possible to buy a maiden tree which is a fruit tree variety grafted onto a rootstock and is only 1 year old. The graft is visible as a ‘knuckle’ about 10-20cms above the soil level line or ’nursery mark’. From there, you can train the tree into a variety of forms - particularly ideal for fans or espaliers. Buying a tree at this stage does involve training it yourself, and there are some key details to doing this that you would need to look up (or I may be able to help by passing on some more information). Rootstocks are important because they determine the eventual height, vigour and shape of the tree; they also have varying degrees of resistance to diseases and pests. They are called names like M27, MM106, Colt, Quince C, etc. So, for example, if you have space for a large apple tree, you might buy a standard on an M25 rootstock. If, on the other hand, you have a small garden and would like a Conference pear to grow as an espalier against a wall, you could buy a maiden on a Quince A. It can seem fairly complicated but all reputable fruit tree growers have all the necessary information available (see list at end). Very popular now are also ‘column’ fruit trees. These have been developed with small gardens in mind, and are as they sound: up to 2m with no side branches to maximise fruiting in a small space. They have tradenames such as Ballerina and Minarette. If you want to see some excellent examples of mature, trained fruit trees in north west England, the Walled Kitchen Garden at Tatton Park is full of them. They have huge fan-trained cherries against the walls, and many gnarly espalier apple trees trained on wires in the centre of the garden. Well worth a visit! See: https://www.tattonpark.org.uk/what_to_see_and_do/gardens/garden_areas/walled_gardens.aspx POLLINATION: Before moving onto planting, a vital note about pollination. Obviously the main point of planting fruit trees is to grow your own fruit, and this is only possible if the flowers are pollinated in spring. But most fruit tree varieties need another compatible fruit tree nearby to be flowering at the same time (something in the same pollination group). Even so-called ‘self-fertile’ varieties like Conference pear are better when in close enough proximity to a pollinating partner. So where you thought you might be buying one fruit tree, you might end up buying two or more! So check you have space for this, or that a neighbour has a tree that yours can partner with. PLANTING: Dig a hole 1m or more wide and slightly deeper than the tree's roots, breaking up the base and sides of the hole. (There is no need to dig the hole until you have the tree.) Make sure that the circle is clear of all turf and vegetation as this would seriously compete with the tree’s needs. Use some Blood, Fish and Bone fertiliser which will incorporate itself into the soil as you dig. You also need a stake which you insert well into the soil to a depth of 60cms, and lean into the prevailing wind if possible; the stake supports the tree, preventing wind rock, and is attached to the tree with a tree tie (not wires or string). Plant the tree in the centre of the hole, making sure that it is completely upright, and with the roots just below the surface (use the ‘nursery mark’ as your guide). As you do this make sure you have no air pockets, cover the roots and firm the soil well around them. Use a tree tie to tie round the stake and the tree with a spacer in between - a tree tie is a band made of plastic or rubbery material, and you can buy these together as a kit with the stake. When all is in place water well and add a thick layer of mulch. Each year as the tree grows check that the tree tie is not getting too tight, and loosen it as necessary. Planting of fruit trees can be done at any time from late autumn through to early spring. Look for a time when the weather conditions are fairly good – so not in hard frosts or snow, and not when the ground is too wet or too dry. STORING: Some fruit can be, or will need to be eaten fresh from the tree. You may want to enjoy those early apples straight away, and with plums you will probably need to get to them before the wasps do! If you have a bumper crop, you could give some away or make pies, jams, or fruit stews to freeze. Later apples and pears can be stored on racks in a cool, well-ventilated place such a shed where it is not too dry. Don’t store any that are damaged as they will rot and spoil the good fruit. If a hard frost is due you might need to throw a blanket over them for some extra protection. Storing this way can give you apples right up to blossom time next spring. This blog will not have covered everything there is to know about choosing and planting fruit trees, but it is intended as an introduction. Hopefully it will give you that springboard and encourage you to have a go at growing your own fruit. I hope you have found it helpful, and thanks for reading! Some fruit tree suppliers: www.blackmoor.co.uk www.ashridgetrees.co.uk www.walcotnursery.co.uk www.thompson-morgan.com/fruit/fruit-trees Acknowledgements: Thanks to my parents who brought me up on a fruit tree nursery in the West Country, and to love trees and other plants. And thanks to my dad, John Puckett, who fact-checked this blog for me and has provided me with additional information besides. Thank you also to Best in Horticulture and the RHS Level 2 & 3 courses in Garden Maintenance and Design.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorHi, I'm Jo. This is where I'll be posting my observations about my gardening life and gardening advice. Please enyoy! And if there's anything you would like to ask me about gardening I will try to answer your questions. Archives
March 2021
Categories |