Choosing fruit trees
I’ve been talking to a few people recently about planting fruit trees. It’s a subject that is hard to cover completely in a brief conversation. Not because it is difficult, but because there are lots of different things to think about. Below are a collection of notes that cover a lot of these. They aren’t exhaustive but should point in the right direction
Timing
Plant bare-root fruit trees in November to February when fully dormant. Pot –grown trees September to early-May (be careful some garden centre plants can be just bare-root plants put in a pot with soil). Avoid planting when frosty.
If you want particular varieties on a certain rootstock you might need to shop around multiple nurseries and some can sell out early. Nurseries will often have a backlog of orders through autumn and winter so expect some delay between ordering and the plants arriving.
If you want particular varieties on a certain rootstock you might need to shop around multiple nurseries and some can sell out early. Nurseries will often have a backlog of orders through autumn and winter so expect some delay between ordering and the plants arriving.
Spacing
How much room do you have? The space available will obviously determine how many trees and what size will fit. Even small spaces can fit fruit trees in with trained versions like step-overs, cordons and espaliers and even growing in pots. A variety of rootstocks, especially for apples, lets you select the approximate size of the tree and from that you can work out how close together the trees can go. Don’t overcrowd them though. Space between makes for healthier trees and a better mixture of light and shade. (https://www.orangepippintrees.co.uk/articles/fruit-tree-spacing-guide).
Tree size and rootstocks
Fruit trees are typically grown as a particular variety grafted onto a rootstock. The rootstock controls the size of the final tree. Most rootstocks have been bred to produce trees that are smaller than the native tree so that the fruit can be picked more easily. Rootstocks vary for different fruit trees, so apple rootstocks don’t work for pears and vice versa. Apples have a wide range of different rootstocks available normally starting with M (Malling) or MM (Malling-Merton) followed by a number. For example, MM106 is a semi-dwarfing rootstock that produces trees of 2.7-3.5m and tolerates a wide range of soils. Whereas, M27 is an extremely dwarfing rootstock that produces trees of 1.2-1.8m but needs a permanent stake and good soil. In general, the more vigorous rootstocks can cope with different soils while the smaller ones are more choosey. Trees on more vigorous rootstocks take longer to reach maturity. This provides a good overview for apples and other fruit (https://www.orangepippintrees.co.uk/articles/fruit-tree-rootstock-tree-sizes)
Choosing varieties
Again. focusing on apples, for which there is the widest range of cultivars (>7,500), these are some of the things worth thinking about:
- Have you tasted them and do you like them? This sounds really obvious but sometimes it is hard to find examples to try. Apple days are a good place. Having said that I wouldn’t choose varieties based solely on the fact that you know an apple from the supermarket. Many of the things that make an apple commercially successful aren’t necessarily an advantage for growing your own in the UK. For example, many may be grown in slightly different climates and imported or they may store well under industrial conditions where they may be kept for 12 months or more (google Controlled atmosphere and SmartFresh for more).
- When will they ripen? Apple cultivars are available with a wide range of dates at which they are ready to eat. Early apples may be ready as soon as August (or even July in some years). However, early apples typically don’t last very long. They can be more sensitive to the weather as they have less time to ripen and rely on some sunshine. In some cases they may even fall from the tree before they are ready. So earlies are great because you they come first but probably shouldn’t be the apple you choose if you only have room for one. Mid and late apples by contrast have longer seasons of use. It’s worth knowing that many apples aren’t ready to eat straight from the tree and may have picking times in September/October but may keep for longer in a cool, dark, rodent-free place. Some late varieties keep right through the winter and even into April/May. If you have room for a number of trees you can plant trees that will provide a succession of apples from August through to May.
- Dessert/cooker/cider? Cookers are often bigger and may store well. Eaters may need a little more sunshine to get a good crop than cookers which can be less fussy. These distinctions can be blurred at the edges with some apples being too sharp to eat to start with, but become sweeter with storage. Some eaters have a lot of tannins and can serve as cider apples too.
- Pollination. Most apples are not self-fertile and require another apple variety to pollinate them. To make things a little more complicated the timing of the blossom needs to overlap. Dates of pollination are quoted in some books but to make things simpler there are groups (1-7). Trees are typically pollinated by different cultivars in the same or adjacent groups (e.g. a group 2 tree would be pollinated by a group 1, 2 or 3 tree).
- Disease resistance. Some varieties show some resistance to common problems like bitter pit and scab while others may be particularly susceptible. Assuming you are going to be growing without recourse to agrochemicals it’s worth choosing more resistant varieties or at least avoiding susceptible varieties wherever possible.
- Spur/tip bearer. Most apples are spur bearers that develop fruit buds on wood that is two years old or on spurs on older wood while a minority are tip bearers that develop fruit buds at the end of growth from the previous year. There are also partial tip bearers. The type affects how to prune them. Tip bearers may be less suitable for more heavily trained forms like cordons and espaliers.
- Vigour and habit. Different varieties grow in different ways. Some are more vigorous than others and may be noted as weak, medium or vigorous. Most trees have an upright and spreading habit but some are more upright and some more spreading. This can affect the final shape. For example Tydeman’s Late Orange is vigorous but has long whippy new growth and results in wider drooping tree early on.