[Sheena]

Went to Homebase in Walthamstow today to get some fleece (see cabbage post) and they had a pile of 5 - 6ft fruit trees at the front door at 1/2 price for only a fiver.
 They also had peach and apricot trees but I was uncertain whether I would get any kind of reliable crop from them so I didn't buy them.

Anyway, I got an apple tree(a cross between a cox's and some other apple) and a William's pear tree. Now for the Questions!

1) What is the best way to plant them to ensure that they survive and give me some lovely fruit?

2) The Apple tree has loads of blossom, well, its finished now but it looks like it will produce plenty apples this year. The Pear tree has none - when would a William's tree blossom normally?

thanks again    

[WG.]

Are they bare-root or in pots (hopefully)?

[Sheena]

WG,

They are not bare root, they are in dirt in a flimsy kind of hessian makeshift pot thing.

As clear as mud, sorry :?

[WG.]

I know they need lots of space.  You might even need other varieties for pollination.  Await expert advice.

[Sheena]

Thanks WG,

I had no idea that you needed another tree to pollinate, I googled and found that there are two groups of pears and you need to get different varieties from the same group. They are grouped according to when they flower.

The apple tree is self fertile I think, though I will double check.

[richyrich7]

Apples usually fall into 3 groups in this country, a bit like spuds early, mids and lates all to do with when they flower.

Even though it says self fertile you'll  generally get better cropping when other trees are around.

You will also need to find out whether the apple is spur or tip flowering as this will affect your pruning method.

If it was me I would be tempted to remove all the young fruit this year as you will want to strengthen the tree. They will probably drop most of it any way.

Nice find by the way