[garddwr]

Hi,

I am considering investing in a few fruit trees for the garden.

They are nice for the garden and give structure, and they areoremental in the spring as they flower but instead of having leaves that you can't eat you have a bonus at the end of it - lovely fruits.

but......


Is it as easy as it sounds and as the sales blurb in the catalouges and online imply ?

What are the main pests and problems I would have to deal with ?

I'm prepared to put a bit of work in ,but not too much and I don't really want to be buying sprays and bug clear that sort of thing.

I'm mostly busy with the normal vegetables and bedding and rest of my garden through the spring and into summer, although the work slows down towards autumn I would be able to prune them then.Do they look after themselves to an extent ?

Pollination shouldn't be a problem as I'm considering self-ferile ones.

Anything else you can think of that I have missed ? Or any general comments or suggestions about fruit trees ?

I'm considering thees ones:

J.Parkers - 4 Fruit Tree Collection

Thanks very much

Garddwr

[gillie]

The collection you are interested in does not mention the rootstocks of these trees.  Rootstock is important as it governs the rate of growth and eventual size of the trees and how quickly they come into bearing.  Both pears and cherries grow into enormous trees on their own roots and take many years to start fruiting.  I would not purchase a fruit tree without knowing they had suitable rootstocks -  probably a dwarfing or at least a semi-dwarfing one. 

The apple and pear would both need winter pruning.  The cherry and plum should be pruned when in growth, if at all, and of course the cherry would need netting. 

I never spray my fruit trees.  Some varieties of apple and pear in some situations suffer  from scab which can be sprayed against where practicable.  I don't have experience with the varieties in this offer and those trees that we planted that were badly affected we grubbed out and replaced.  Apples sometimes suffer from codling moth, which bores holes in the ripening fruit, but there is a good biological control for this.

I strongly recommend that you buy quality trees from a highly reputable nursery even if it costs much more - they are going to be with you for a long time.

Cheers,

Gillie

[garddwr]

thanks for your reply, the rootstock is m9.They are a dwarf variety growing up  to 1.9-2metres. Ideal for my garden

Any ideas how long they'll take to come into fruit properly ?

I'd only consder investing in those or  a similar offer,I don't really want to spend £30 on an apple tree when I can have 4 trees fro £40.



Thanks

Garddwr

[Swing Swang]

Can keep the costs down and still buy quality by buying bare rooted maidens during the dormant season.

A little more work involved with the initial pruning, but nothing that a good book can't teach you. Providing you choose the right rootstok, have the right pollination partners if required, prepare the ground correctly first, and look after them well it should be easy (providing that measures are taken against birds, viruses, fungii, insects, inclement weather etc etc).

Not that different from everything else that we do really...

SS

[gillie]

M9 is an apple rootstock.  You need to know the rootstocks and hence the eventual size of all the trees.  They should be producing decent amounts of fruit within five years, however one of our pears took ten years but is now a lovely reliable late cropper.

I never spray our orchard, but have had to remove a couple of apple trees because they were badly affected by scab.  Codling moth can be a problem with apples but there is a good biological control.

Buying maidens is an excellent idea, they will soon catch up with older trees which are much more expensive.

Cheers,

Gillie

[garddwr]

oh sorry I forgot to add extra details.

I have the catalouge and there is much more infromation in it.

Tree     Rootstock          Pollination                  Variety

apple - m9 root stock (self fertile - group c) - laxton's superb
pear - quice c root stock (self fertile - group b) - conference
plum - pixie root stock (self fertile)  Victoria
cherry - dwarf colt  (self fertile)         Stella


Thanks