[mumofstig]

It's organised......I have arranged for a local groundsman to come and cut down my very big cherry tree He has a log burner so the price reflects his need for firewood

Now the thing is what small growing fruit tree can I put at that end of the garden instead? It won't be going in exactly the same place, so that's ok.

I fancy a plum, but don't think there is a really dwarfing rootstock  . Or a cooking apple? there is a crab apple next door or does anyone have experience with the family trees?

[Trillium]

Really depends on what fruit you want, MOS. There are nice small gisela rootstock cherries out there now. You could do several columnar apples. Plums could be iffy because I have supposedly dwarf plums but despite pruning I'm going to need a ladder soon, plus they're so prone to black knot  Pears are easy to grow but are very susceptible to several diseases.

[penance]

i would leave it a year or so to let the ground revuild some nutrients.
Dig over the area if poss and let it settle.

[mumofstig]

a further thought....do apple tree roots grow down more than cherry trees do?  the cherry had a lot of surface roots that were a nuisance

[Trillium]

I've never noticed my apple tree roots close to the surface, so I assume they're more of a tap rooter.

[Rangerkris]

Hope you got a good price, i got my Mum's cherry tree to prune back that i keep getting an ear bending for hahahahahha

[mumofstig]

An exceptionally good price Kris 

[skywalker]

I have some dwarf  apple trees which take up very little space but produce a surprising amount of fruit for their size. Not sure what the variety is though 

[viettaclark]

How about a walnut? You can get a small (12'max) variety and the tree has really pretty leaves.

[vet]

I have six minarette trees across the bottom of the allotment. Even though I'm dodo at pruning they haven't grown too big. 2 Plums, 1 Cherry, 1 Damson and an Apple. They were bought several years ago from various nurseries but all had Blackmoor labels on them. They are supposed to be patio trees but are thriving where they are. Perhaps you could give the Blackmoor website a look